TRANSPORT

Aircraft

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what information his Department holds on the average weight of aeroplanes departing from UK airports in each of the last five years.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not hold this information.

Departmental Internet

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport which websites his Department's staff are prevented from accessing from departmental networked computers.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport has an acceptable use policy that restricts unsuitable websites. It is not practical to list all individual blocked websites due to the numbers involved, but the main categories blocked by the Department and its agencies are as follows:
	Adult or sexually explicit (including pornography, nudity and intimate apparel)
	Crime and violence (including weapons, hate crime, historical revisionism and profanity)
	Drugs, alcohol and tobacco
	Gambling
	Personal (including dating, social networking, chat, messaging, lifestyle and auctions)
	Remote proxies
	Entertainment/culture (including internet TV/radio, streaming media and media downloads/sharing).

Departmental Pay

Vincent Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many staff in his Department received bonus payments in 2008-09; what proportion of the total workforce they represented; what the total amount of bonuses paid was; what the largest single payment was; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mole: I refer the hon. Member to my answer given today to the hon. Member for Ilford, North (Mr. Scott), which shows how many staff received a non-consolidated variable pay award, what proportion of the total work force they represented and what the total amount of non-consolidated variable payments was.
	The largest single non-consolidated variable payment was £15,000.

Departmental Pay

Lee Scott: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much has been paid in bonuses to civil servants in his Department in each year since 2003.

Chris Mole: An element of the Department for Transport's overall pay award is allocated to non-consolidated variable pay related to performance. These payments are used to drive high performance and form part of the pay award for members of staff who demonstrate exceptional performance, for example by exceeding targets set or meeting challenging objectives.
	Non-consolidated variable pay awards are funded from within existing pay bill controls, and have to be re-earned each year against pre-determined targets and, as such, do not add to future pay bill costs. The percentage of the pay bill set aside for performance-related awards for the SCS is based on recommendations from the independent Senior Salaries Review Body.
	The following table details how many people were eligible for and received a non-consolidated variable pay award, awarded under the Department for Transport's standard pay and performance management process for the last six performance years. It also details the wages and salaries as published in the departmental resource accounts.
	
		
			  Performance year  Number of staff  Total number of awards  Value of non-consolidated performance  payments (£)  Wages and salaries for the year (£)  Non-consolidated performance payments as percentage of  wages and salaries 
			 2003-04 10,338 4,814 2,020,828 358,466,000 0.56 
			 2004-05 11,151 5,537 1,881,308 358,165,000 0.53 
			 2005-06 19,239 13,682 8,212,780 439,645,000 1.87 
			 2006-07 19,262 14,906 9,820,319 496,044,000 1.98 
			 2007-08 18,598 13,472 10,285,859 517,884,000 1.99 
			 2008-09 19,451 13,192 11,797,001 535,555,000 2.20

Departmental Pay

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many  (a) year-end and  (b) in-year bonuses were paid to officials in his Department in each of the last three years; and how much was paid in such bonuses in each such year.

Chris Mole: I refer the hon. Member to my answer given today to the hon. Member for Ilford, North (Mr. Scott), which shows how many non-consolidated variable pay awards were paid, and what the total amount of non-consolidated variable payments was for the last three years.

Driving Offences: Chelmsford

Simon Burns: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent estimate he has made of the number of 17 to 21-year-olds using motor vehicles on the road network without insurance in  (a) West Chelmsford constituency and  (b) Chelmsford local authority area.

Paul Clark: No information is held on uninsured driving on a constituency or local authority area basis.

First Capital Connect: Franchises

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the earliest date is on which the First Capital Connect franchise can be terminated, assuming no exceptional intervention powers are invoked by his Department.

Chris Mole: The First Capital Connect franchise can run until 31 March 2015. The Secretary of State may exercise an option to serve notice on First Capital Connect for the franchise to end at a notified date between 31 March 2012 and 31 March 2015. The franchise also contains provisions where the Secretary of State may terminate the franchise for an event of default.

Independent Penalty Fares Appeals Service

John Stanley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will take steps to  (a) cease allowing the Independent Penalty Fares Appeals Service (IPFAS) to be a subsidiary business of Southeastern and  (b) make IPFAS wholly independent of the train operating companies.

Chris Mole: There are no proposals to alter the status of the Independent Penalty Fares Appeals Service. Its accounts and management are wholly separate to Southeastern. There are two penalty fares appeal bodies. Their revenue is not dependent on success or failure of appeals. Each body is paid a specified amount for appeals, regardless of the outcome. Appeals are regularly successful.

National Air Traffic Services

Paul Rowen: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department plans to sell off Government shares in National Air Traffic Services; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: On 8 December the Government published the Operational Efficiency Programme: Asset Portfolio.
	The portfolio includes a section on NATS which notes that in light of the impending expiry of the restrictions on the transfer of shares for NATS, it is appropriate for Government to engage with other shareholders who are likely to consider the shareholding options available to them.
	No decision has been made by Government with regards to reducing their shareholding. Any options considered would be required to best meet the needs of the Company and its workforce, as well as shareholders.

Official Cars

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to the written ministerial statement of 16 July 2009,  Official Report, column 79WS, on the cost of ministerial cars for 2008-09, how many cars there were in 1996-97 for  (a) Ministers and  (b) senior civil servants; and what the annual cost was of providing the service.

Paul Clark: The Government Car and Despatch Agency was formed in April 1997. Information before that date is not available and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Road Traffic

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many journeys and what percentage of miles were made by each type of vehicle on  (a) motorways and  (b) dual carriageways in the UK in each of the last three years.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not hold data on the number of journeys made each year by type of vehicle on motorways or dual carriageways.
	Traffic data on dual carriageways are not available for Northern Ireland. However, the percentage of miles driven by type of vehicle in Great Britain on motorways and dual carriageways in 2006, 2007 and 2008 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			   Cars and taxis  Motorcycles  Buses and coaches  Light vans  Goods vehicles  Pedal cycles  All vehicles 
			  2006
			 Motorways 14.5 0.1 0.1 2.4 2.4 0.0 19.4 
			 Dual carriageways 14.4 0.2 0.1 2.2 1.3 - 18.2 
			 All other roads 49.7 0.8 0.8 8.2 2.0 0.9 62.4 
			 All roads 78.6 1.0 1.1 12.7 5.7 0.9 100.0 
			 
			  2007
			 Motorways 14.5 0.1 0.1 2.4 2.4 0.0 19.4 
			 Dual carriageways 14.1 0.2 0.1 2.3 1.3 - 18.0 
			 All other roads 49.6 0.8 0.9 8.5 2.0 0.8 62.6 
			 All roads 78.1 1.1 1.1 13.2 5.7 0.8 100.0 
			 
			  2008
			 Motorways 14.6 0.1 0.1 2.4 2.4 0.0 19.5 
			 Dual carriageways 14.2 0.1 0.1 2.3 1.3 - 18.0 
			 All other roads 49.5 0.8 0.8 8.6 2.0 0.9 62.5 
			 All roads 78.2 1.0 1.0 13.3 5.6 0.9 100.0 
			 '-' = Negligible (less than half the final digit shown)  Source: National Road Traffic Survey, DFT.

Road Traffic

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the  (a) percentage of UK-registered and  (b) number of foreign-registered vehicles of each type which have used (i) motorways and (ii) dual carriageways in the last year.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not hold data on either the percentage of vehicles that have used motorways or dual carriageways, or the number of foreign registered vehicles that have used motorways or dual carriageways.

Roads: Accidents

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many and what proportion of drivers in each five-year age cohort were involved in a road traffic accident causing  (a) death and  (b) serious injury in each of the last three years for which figures are readily available.

Paul Clark: The information requested is shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  Drivers( 1)  involved in (a) fatal and (b) serious( 2)  reported road accidents by age group: GB 2006-08 
			  Number of drivers 
			   Fatal accidents  Serious accidents 
			  Age of driver  2006  2007  2008  2006  2007  2008 
			 Under 17 14 8 7 66 41 50 
			 17-19 363 331 268 2,566 2,382 2,178 
			 20-24 562 483 384 3,826 3,813 3,497 
			 25-29 440 371 367 3,363 3,121 3,006 
			 30-34 368 351 300 3,072 2,917 2,587 
			 35-39 406 394 310 3,448 3,103 2,862 
			 40-44 414 394 324 3,266 3,011 2,868 
			 45-49 351 347 321 2,505 2,500 2,407 
			 50-54 269 307 238 1,980 2,040 1,887 
			 55-59 304 258 172 1,844 1,738 1,591 
			 60-64 212 191 180 1,335 1,381 1,380 
			 65-69 111 117 103 816 782 763 
			 70-74 86 85 77 644 573 605 
			 75-79 63 69 78 451 479 450 
			 80-84 55 43 55 299 319 327 
			 85-89 35 38 20 148 139 169 
			 90-94 2 6 9 18 23 23 
			 95+ 2 1 1 1 2 3 
			 (1) Car, goods vehicle, bus and coach drivers. (2) Accidents in which at least one person was seriously injured but no person was killed. 
		
	
	
		
			  Drivers( 1)  involved in (a) fatal and (b) serious( 2)  reported road accidents per 100,000 driving licence holders( 3)  by age group: GB 2006-08 
			  Rate per 100,000 driving licence holders 
			   Fatal accidents  Serious accidents 
			  Age of Driver  2006  2007  2008  2006  2007  2008 
			 17-19 24 20 17 167 146 137 
			 20-24 19 16 12 126 123 110 
			 25-29 14 12 11 107 99 92 
			 30-34 11 11 9 89 88 79 
			 35-39 10 10 8 87 80 74 
			 40-49 10 10 8 76 72 68 
			 50-59 9 9 7 61 61 56 
			 60+ 7 7 6 47 45 42 
			 (1) Car, goods vehicle, bus and coach drivers. (2) Accidents in which at least one person was seriously injured but no person was killed. (3) Full and provisional driving licences.  Source: National Travel Survey 
		
	
	It is not possible to identify if the same driver was involved in more than one accident so there may be some double counting in the number of drivers involved in accidents. This does not take into account people that drive without a licence, driving licence holders that do not drive or those under 17 years of age.
	Due to the small sample size used in the National Travel Survey some age groups are shown in age bands larger than five years in the second table.

Roads: Accidents

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many  (a) adults and  (b) children who were (i) killed and (ii) seriously injured in road accidents involving drivers who were under the influence of (A) drink, (B) drugs and (C) both drink and drugs in each of the last three years.

Paul Clark: The estimated number of  (a) adults and  (b) children who were (i) killed and (ii) seriously injured in reported drink drive accidents in each of the last three years with data available is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Estimated( 1 ) (i) killed and (ii) seriously injured drink drive casualties: GB 2005-07 
			   2005  2006  2007 
			 (i) Killed
			  (a) Adult(2) 550 550 410 
			  (b) Child(3) 10 10 0 
			 All ages(4) 550 560 410 
			 
			 (ii) Seriously injured
			  (a) Adult(2) 1,950 1,860 1,700 
			  (b) Child(3) 90 70 70 
			 All ages(4) 2,090 1,970 1,760 
			 (1)Estimates are based on breath test and coroners' data. They are rounded to the nearest 10 so columns may not add up to their total.  (2)Aged 16+ years.  (3)Aged 0-15 years.  (4)Includes cases where age was not recorded. 
		
	
	The number of  (a) adults and  (b) children who were (i) killed and (ii) seriously injured in road accidents where "driver impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal)" was reported as a contributory factor in each of the last three years with data available, and the number where a driver also had "impaired by alcohol" reported as a contributory factor, are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Reported (a) adult and (b) child road casualties who were (i) killed and (ii) seriously injured in road accidents where "impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal)" and "impaired by alcohol" were reported as contributory factors( 1) : GB 2006-08 
			  Contributory factor  Year of accident 
			   2006  2007  2008 
			  Impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal)
			 (i) Killed
			  (a) Adult(2) 62 70 57 
			  (b) Child(3) 2 1 3 
			 All ages(4) 64 71 60 
			 
			 (ii) Seriously injured
			  (a) Adult(2) 246 247 265 
			  (b) Child(3) 9 13 11 
			 All ages(4) 262 261 280 
			  Driver "impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal)" and "impaired by alcohol"
			 (i) Killed
			  (a) Adult(2) 27 34 27 
			  (b) Child(3) 0 0 2 
			 All ages(4) 27 34 29 
			 
			 (ii) Seriously injured
			  (a) Adult(2) 94 121 121 
			  (b) Child(3) 2 7 9 
			 All ages(4) 99 129 132 
			 (1)( )Only includes accidents where a police officer attended the scene and reported a contributory factor. (2)( )Aged 16+ years. (3)( )Aged 0-15 years. (4)( )Includes cases where age was not recorded. 
		
	
	Contributory factors reflect the police officer's opinion at the time of reporting, and where some factors may have contributed to the cause of an accident it may be difficult for a police officer attending the scene after the accident to identify them, so these factors may be under-reported. Not all reported road accidents are included in the contributory factor analysis, only those where a police officer attended the scene and at least one contributory factor was reported.

Rolling Stock: Procurement

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2010,  Official Report, column 336W, on rolling stock, how many vehicles were offered to the Department where the purchase option was not pursued and the vehicles were subsequently exported.

Chris Mole: Although sale of the vehicles is a matter for the rolling stock leasing companies I am aware that:
	HSBC Rail (UK) Limited exported 77 Mark 2 vehicles (11 in 2006, 26 in 2007 and 40 in 2008). These vehicles were built by British Rail in the early 1970s, were around 30 years old when taken out of traffic and replaced by new Voyager and Pendolino trains from 2000, and were around 35 years old when offered to the Department.
	Porterbrook sold 26 Class 87 locomotives to a UK company who subsequently sold them to Bulgaria, these locomotives also date from the early 1970s, were replaced by new Pendolino trains from 2002, and were around 35 years old when offered to the Department.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Departmental Consultants

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much her Department has spent on behavioural research consultants in the last five financial years.

Jim Knight: The information requested could not be provided within the disproportionate costs threshold.

Departmental Manpower

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobs in her Department she plans to outsource in the next five years.

Jim Knight: My Department's policy is to rigorously and continuously examine all of our activities and to apply our "contestability" policy which offers the opportunity to use external provision, using competition, to create incentives for continuous improvement in the cost and quality of services and to provide customers with greater choice.
	Plans to determine the most efficient delivery model for the Department and its constituent agencies are therefore subject to this continuous review and the optimum balance of in-house provision and outsourced providers is sought.

Departmental Records

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the number of paper files held in her Department and its agencies; what the annual cost to each of monitoring a paper filing system is; what consideration she has given to alternative filing arrangements; and whether any changes to present practices are planned.

Jim Knight: A full record storage and retrieval service is currently delivered to DWP by Capita plc. The current file-holding is in the region of 58 million files and the annual contract cost for 2008-09 was £21.2 million. In the main these paper documents form the legal basis on which applications to benefit are determined and must be retained for audit, review, appeal and other business related functions while the claim to benefit is current and for a period after termination of claim.
	DWP is actively engaged in a range of initiatives to reduce paper e.g. a scanning solution for documents received from clients. These scanned images will be stored in and retrieved from a single Departmental Document Repository System.
	Jobcentre Plus has also set up a Paper Reduction Programme to consider opportunities to reduce the amount of paper that is used and moved around its business.

Employment and Support Allowance

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will consider the merits of automatically placing individuals with  (a) Huntington's disease and  (b) certain other conditions on employment support allowance.

Jonathan R Shaw: Entitlement to employment and support allowance does not depend on an individual's diagnosis or condition, but on how severely a condition impacts on an individual's ability to function. This is in recognition of the fact that individuals with the same condition can experience varying functional effects. Accordingly, the assessment for benefit entitlement accurately identifies individuals for the most appropriate benefit and support, by focusing on the functional effects of a condition.

Employment and Support Allowance

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the criteria are for qualification for employment support allowances.

Jonathan R Shaw: The basic qualification conditions for employment and support allowance are that the customer:
	Has limited capability for work;
	Is at least 16 years old;
	Has not reached pensionable age;
	Is in Great Britain;
	Is not entitled to Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance.
	There are additional conditions to determine if a customer is entitled to contributory and/or income-related employment and support allowance.

Employment Schemes: Older Workers

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to her Department's White Paper on Building Britain's Recovery, whether people currently on  (a) incapacity benefit and  (b) employment and support allowance will be eligible for the new specialist back to work support for the over 50s; and when she expects that support to be available.

Jonathan R Shaw: The White Paper announced five new back-to-work measures for the over 50s, principally designed for those on jobseekers allowance (JSA). However, early access (day one of a claim) to work trials will extend equally to customers on incapacity benefits and employment and support allowance. The new specialist contracted support for over 50s will be delivered as part of the Jobcentre Plus Support Contract (JCPSC), which is an important tool for advisers and an integral part of the JSA customer journey.
	The new JCPSC provision for over 50s will be open to people claiming JSA and New Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP), New Deal for Partners (NDP) and Work Focused Support for Carers (WFSC) participants. People in receipt of IB will be able to access the JCPSC provision where they meet the eligibility criteria as a NDLP participant. Partners of customers in receipt of ESA/IB will be able to access the JCPSC provision where they meet the eligibility criteria as a NDP participant.
	We are working to introduce the over 50s measures in spring this year.

Employment Services

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent steps her Department has taken to develop the profiling tool for jobseekers referred to on page 108 of her Department's White Paper, Building Britain's Recovery; when she expects trials of that tool to start; where such trials will be undertaken; and recipients of what benefits will be included in those trials.

Jim Knight: We are currently conducting a trial that builds upon the Jobseekers Classification Instrument which is a questionnaire used in Australia to determine the level of service a jobseeker needs in order to find work. The trial has already started, is taking place across Great Britain via telephone interview and will cover 5,000 people making a new jobseeker's allowance claim.

Future Jobs Fund

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people were employed in each area where the Future Jobs Fund is operating in each month since its introduction.

Jim Knight: Information on Future Jobs Fund starts is not currently available, but will be made available from spring 2010 through a statistical release that is planned to cover the whole of the Young Person's Guarantee. This is normal practice for DWP employment programmes and it allows time for input from the UK Statistics Authority and for the information to be collected, understood, verified and reported.

Income Support: Disabled

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what her most recent estimate is of the number of people in receipt of income support on the ground of disability.

Jonathan R Shaw: The information is not available in the format requested.

Pension Credit

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will make it her policy to increase pension credit payment levels to compensate for the effects of lower interest rates on the income of pensioners.

Angela Eagle: From November 2009 the amount of capital completely ignored in the calculation of pension credit was increased from £6,000 to £10,000. This change was made in response to the impact of falling interest rates on pensioners and means that around 88 per cent. of pension credit recipients have all of their capital ignored.
	From April 2010 the standard minimum guarantee in pension credit is due to increase by 2 per cent. This means that, from April, no single pensioner need live on less than £132.60 a week and no couple on less than £202.40 a week. The above earnings increase in the pension credit guarantee underlines the Government's ongoing commitment to tackling pensioner poverty.
	We have a good track record of reducing pensioner poverty. In 2007-08 there were 900,000 fewer pensioners in relative poverty than in 1998-99 (measured as below 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income after housing costs). Pensioners are less likely to be living in poverty, as measured by relative low income after housing costs, than the population as a whole.

Pensioners: Disabled

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate she has made of the average income of a recipient of  (a) attendance allowance and  (b) disability living allowance who is over 65 years or over.

Jonathan R Shaw: In 2007-08 the median income of individuals in receipt of attendance allowance was £12,900 per year and the median income of disability living allowance recipients aged 65 years or over was £12,200 per year. However, to look at the living standards of recipients of disability living allowance and attendance allowance, it is more appropriate to use equivalised household incomes (where household incomes are adjusted for household size and composition) as presented in the Department for Work and Pensions Households Below Average Income report. Results on this basis are given in the following table:
	
		
			  Median equivalised annual household incomes of household containing recipients of attendance allowance and disability living allowance who are aged 65 or over 
			   Median annual household income (£) 
			  Group  Before housing costs  After housing costs 
			 Recipients of attendance allowance 19,200 18,900 
			 Recipients of disability living allowance 18,500 17,400 
			 All households with someone aged 65 or over 17,000 15,900 
			  Notes:  1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest £100.  2. The Family Resources Survey is a nationally representative sample of approximately 26,000 households. Since 2002-03, the Family Resources Survey has covered the whole of the United Kingdom. The Households Below Average Income series is sourced from the Family Resources Survey.  3. Data for 2007-08 were collected between April 2007 and March 2008.  4. The Family Resources Survey is known to under-record both incomes and benefit receipt so the estimates presented should be treated with caution.  5. The figures are based on a sample of households which have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the Family Resources Survey to Government office region population by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining non-response error.  6. Attendance allowance and disability living allowance amounts have been included as income.  7. The Households Below Average Income series uses disposable household income, adjusted (or 'equivalised') for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. For the Households Below Average Income series, incomes have been equivalised using Organisations for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) equivalisation factors.   Sources:  1. The Family Resources Survey 2007-08.  2. Households Below Average Income report 2007-08.

Social Security Benefits

Brooks Newmark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in  (a) England,  (b) Essex and  (c) Braintree constituency are in receipt of each type of benefit administered by her Department.

Jim Knight: holding answer 20 January 2010
	The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  Recipients of benefits in the Braintree parliamentary constituency, the county of Essex and England by statistical group: May 2009 
			   England  Essex  Braintree 
			 Jobseekers 1,245,820 27,360 2,430 
			 ESA and incapacity benefits 2,162,560 44,550 3,450 
			 Lone parents 625,830 13,750 1,130 
			 Carers 665,180 16,450 1,220 
			 Others on income related benefit 2,105,360 51,380 3,960 
			 Disabled 1,764,340 45,630 3,530 
			 Bereaved 80,170 2,210 160 
			 Receiving state pension only 6,240,990 198,100 13,950 
			 All 14,890,230 399,450 29,840 
			  Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest ten; some additional disclosure control has also been applied. 2. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. Caseload figures for attendance allowance, carers allowance, and disability living allowance include those cases with entitlement but where payment is currently suspended (for example, because of an extended stay in hospital or an overlapping benefit). 4. The statistical group is a hierarchical variable. A person who fits into more than one category will only appear in the top-most one for which they are eligible. For example a claimant of disability living allowance and jobseeker's allowance would appear in "Jobseekers", not in "Disabled". 5. From November 2008 the "incapacity benefits group" includes employment and support allowance (ESA). ESA replaced incapacity benefit and income support paid on the grounds of incapacity for new claims from 27 October 2008. Prior to this the "incapacity benefits group" referred to claimants of incapacity benefit (including credits only) or severe disablement allowance including people claiming income support on the grounds of incapacity. 6. May 2009 are the most recent data available.  Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Unemployment: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps she has taken to reduce levels of unemployment in Leeds, West constituency amongst lone parents since 2001; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Lone parents in Leeds, West have access to a wide range of pre-employment and in-work support, including the new deal for lone parents, dedicated personal advisers, working tax credits and in-work credit. Lone parents claiming jobseeker's allowance also have access to support available to other jobseekers, such as to self-employment support, provisions such as work-focused training and recruitment subsidies available as part of the six month offer, the flexible new deal, and access to Local Employment Partnerships, where available.
	According to the Household Labour Force Survey, the employment rate of lone parents in West Yorkshire was approximately 50.2 per cent. in 2001 (Quarter 2) and approximately 52.8 per cent. in 2009 (Quarter 2). West Yorkshire is the smallest region which includes Leeds, West for which the Department has employment data for lone parents.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Electoral Fraud

Gordon Prentice: To ask the hon. Member for South-West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what steps the Commission is taking to minimise the risk of fraud in the general election.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it is working with police forces, electoral registration officers and returning officers to establish a network of single point of contact officers for electoral matters and has delivered training seminars for police forces and electoral administrators on electoral fraud.
	The Commission has also, with the Association of Chief Police Officers, published guidance for electoral administrators and police forces on tackling electoral malpractice, and has established performance standards for electoral registration officers and returning officers on how to identify fraudulent activity.

General Election Counts

Richard Ottaway: To ask the hon. Member for South-West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what information the Electoral Commission holds on the number of election counts that are not planned to commence on the evening of polling day in the general election.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has asked all returning officers to provide information about their current plans for counting ballot papers at the next UK parliamentary general election. This information has been made available in the House of Commons Library.
	In summary, as of 7 January, returning officers for 586 out of 650 constituencies had provided information. Of these, 52 currently do not plan to count ballot papers on the evening of polling day at the general election. A further 17 have indicated they may defer counting in the event that the general election is combined with local authority elections, and 187 were still undecided.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Greg Hands: To ask the Solicitor-General how many iPODs have been bought by the Law Officers' Departments since 2005; and at what cost.

Vera Baird: The Crown Prosecution Service is a devolved organisation. To obtain this information would require local managers to review all paper procurement records and would incur disproportionate cost.
	The remaining Law Officers' Departments have not purchased any iPODs during this period.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Reform of the House of Commons Committee

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Leader of the House when she plans to bring forward proposals for the House to decide on the recommendations of the Select Committee on the Reform of the House of Commons.

Barbara Keeley: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. and learned Friend the Leader of the House gave to the hon. Member for East Dunbartonshire (Jo Swinson) in oral questions today.

WALES

Economic Situation: Wales

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 
	(1)  what meetings Ministers in his Department have had with  (a) Welsh Assembly Government Ministers,  (b) ministerial colleagues and  (c) representatives of Bosch to discuss the closure of Bosch operations in Wales; what the date of each such meeting was; and who attended each;
	(2)  when he was informed of Bosch's intention to end their operations in Wales;
	(3)  what discussions he has had with Unite on the closure of Bosch operations in Wales.

Peter Hain: I have had discussions with a range of interested parties, including the First Minister and Unite.
	Last October Bosch announced that it was holding a 90 day of consultation on the future of the plant, either to cut 300 posts or to close the site completely. On 14 January, Bosch management confirmed that it was recommending the closure of the factory, phasing out production and all jobs by the summer of 2011.
	Although the consultation period continues until the end of February, we are already working closely with the Welsh Assembly Government to provide the support and assistance necessary to help those affected to find new opportunities and get them back into work as quickly as possible.

PRIME MINISTER

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2009,  Official Report, column 547W, on the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, what mechanisms are in place to assess the effectiveness of machinery of government changes; and whether he has made such an assessment since 5 June 2009.

Gordon Brown: The machinery of government is kept under constant review.

Ministerial Policy Advisers: Pay

John Mason: To ask the Prime Minister what severance payments have been made to Ministers who have left office since May 2007.

Gordon Brown: Severance pay is payable in accordance with section 4 of the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991.

Olympic Games: Canada

Don Foster: To ask the Prime Minister how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials from his Office are planning to attend the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in February 2010; and what estimate he has made of the cost of such attendance.

Gordon Brown: Since 1999 the Government have published on an annual basis a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial travel overseas. From 2007-08 the list was extended to include all Ministers. The list also provides information on the number of officials who accompany Ministers. Copies are available in the Libraries of the House. Information for 2009-10 will be published as soon as the information is available.
	All travel by Ministers and civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code and Civil Service Management Code respectively.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Employment Tribunals Service

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many employment tribunals relating to his Department have been held in each of the last five years; and what the total cost to his Department was of such tribunals in each such year.

Dan Norris: DEFRA and its executive agencies have been taken to an employment tribunal 14 times in the last five years. Of these 14 cases, five cases were found in favour of the individual and DEFRA incurred costs. As the number of employment tribunals upheld in each of the last five years is such a small number, we cannot give further details because of the possibility of identifying individuals.

Fly Tipping: Fixed Penalties

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the flycapture fixed penalty notice dataset for each local authority for 2008-09;
	(2)  what proportion of local authorities provide flycapture fixed penalty notice data for waste receptacle offences to his Department.

Dan Norris: DEFRA collects information from local authorities, on fixed penalty notices for a range of environmental offences, including litter, graffiti, abandoned vehicles and waste receptacles. These are published on the DEFRA website:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/local/legislation/fpn/index.htm
	The most recent complete year is 2006-07-the first year many of the FPNs came into being. The return indicates that 43 out of 354 English local authorities (12 per cent.) issued a total of 988 fixed penalty notices for waste receptacle offences.
	Figures for 2007-08 and 2008-09 are being collected from local authorities and these will be published on the DEFRA website shortly.

Forestry Commission: Land

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Forestry Commission plans to sell any of the land it holds.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Forestry Commission has an ongoing programme of asset sales, the proceeds of which are re-invested in the management and development of the public forest estate.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Bars

Michael Fabricant: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2010,  Official Report, columns 825-6W, on bars, for what reason the House of Commons Commission decided not to consult the Administration Committee on possible sites for location of nursery facilities; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: The Commission considered it important to have the planned nursery facility operating early in the new Parliament, before new Members had made other childcare arrangements. This is a challenging timescale, given the need for listed building consent and consent for change of use, the time required to make the premises ready and the requirement to pass the Ofsted inspection and be registered with Ofsted. In view of the time constraints, the Commission decided it was not feasible to consult the Administration Committee.

Legislation: Internet

Francis Maude: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if the House of Commons Commission will bring forward arrangements to ensure that legislation introduced in the House is published on the internet in the format recommended by mysociety.org in its Free Our Bills campaign.

Nick Harvey: The House Administration is currently considering, together with its counterpart in the House of Lords, a proposal for a Procedural Data Programme to update the IT systems holding data about the proceedings of the House, including Bills and amendments to them, so that the data is made available in an open standardised electronic format. The programme would aim to produce Bills and amendments in an electronic format which both complies with open standards and is readily re-usable so that it can be exchanged between parliamentary systems and made available to the public for further processing by others. This output would be similar to what is being requested in the Free our Bills campaign, and also to what is referred to by the House of Lords Information Committee in its recent report "Are the Lords Listening? Creating Connections Between People and Parliament (HL Paper 138-1, 2008-09)". The work would be undertaken in consultation with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, the Office of Public Sector Information (responsible for publishing Acts) and the Cabinet Office.
	Staff are working with the existing software supplier to improve the quality of the XML output from the Bill drafting software. In addition, staff are examining the possibilities of using Bill data in its existing form to publish improved information on the parliamentary website, such as by linking Bill texts to existing Acts of Parliament which the Bill would amend. Some Bill texts showing the amendments made at Committee stage are already published on the parliamentary website (for example, the Financial Services Bill).

Members: Email

Francis Maude: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission with reference to the answer of 12 November 2009,  Official Report, column 622W, on "Members: email", whether PICT has had discussions with representatives of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) to find a technical fix to allow PGP software to be used on hon. Members' computers in a way which is not incompatible with Parliament's current version of VPN (remote access) software.

Nick Harvey: No. PICT provide support to an alternative encryption software product which is deemed to be completely satisfactory. However, Members are not restricted to using the encryption product that PICT offer and support, and can choose to use other products, including PGP.

Members: Email

Francis Maude: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission with reference to the answer of 12 November 2009,  Official Report, column 622W, on "Members: email", if the House of Commons Commission will ask PICT to undertake a further evaluation of whether Pretty Good Privacy software can be used by hon. Members following the introduction of new versions of the PGP email proxy and the Infoexpress VPN client.

Nick Harvey: No, there is no need to do so. Members are not restricted to using the encryption product that PICT offer and support.

OLYMPICS

Olympic Games 2012: Construction

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for the Olympics with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire of 29 October 2009,  Official Report, columns 517-8W, on the "Olympic Games 2012: construction", if she will list the construction contracts which have been awarded to firms based on each region.

Tessa Jowell: Full details of Olympic Delivery Authority's direct suppliers, including a map showing benefits to each region is available on London 2012's website at:
	www.london2012.com/get-involved/business-network/oda-suppliers/index.php
	Details of companies which have construction contracts through the supply chains of ODA's tier one contractors are also provided on the website, this includes the region they are from.

Olympic Games 2012: Finance

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what commitments the Government Olympic Executive has received from other Government bodies in relation to support for the London 2012 Olympics; and what budget is attached to each such commitment.

Tessa Jowell: As part of the £9.325 billion public sector funding package for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG), and the Department for Transport (DfT) are providing funding to the Olympic Delivery Authority for venues, infrastructure and Olympic Park security. As part of that package, the Home Office is providing £600 million for the wider policing and security of the games, and there is a further £238 million as a security contingency. CLG is providing £2.851 million and DfT £1.016 million.
	In total 19 Government Departments are engaged in delivering the games and the Government Olympic Executive (GOE) is currently working closely with those Departments to help them develop their plans and confirm the associated costs.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Big Lottery Fund: Discrimination

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding the Big Lottery Fund has provided to Developing Discrimination Advice Regional Events in 2009-10.

Si�n Simon: The information requested is not held by my Department and relates to matters that are the responsibility of the Big Lottery Fund.
	Accordingly, I have asked the chief executive of the Big Lottery Fund to write direct to the hon. Member.
	Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Camelot Group

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions members his Department have had with the National Lottery Commission on Camelot's proposed entry into the commercial market for bill payments and mobile telephone payments; and whether the Commission has made any assessment of the potential effect of such an entry on the commercial market in the area.

Si�n Simon: My officials and I have regular meetings with the National Lottery Commission about the full range of National Lottery Regulation issues, and the possibility of Camelot providing ancillary services has been discussed in that context.
	The approval of the National Lottery Commission is required to allow the National Lottery operator to undertake such services and the Commission is currently considering proposals from Camelot.

Digital Broadcasting: Radio

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the likely effects of digital switchover under the provisions of the Digital Economy Bill on the ability of local commercial radio stations without a digital path to continue to broadcast on the analogue spectrum.

Si�n Simon: No specific assessment has been made of the impact of the radio provisions set out in the draft Digital Economy Bill on local commercial stations remaining on FM after the digital radio switchover. However, these provisions, and the proposals in the Digital Britain White Paper, were made following 18 months of consultation with the radio industry, which included representatives of small local commercial stations.
	I am continuing this dialogue with the industry with the specific purpose of ensuring that local radio can continue to thrive on FM after the digital radio switchover.

Digital Broadcasting: Scotland

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of Scottish households are able to receive digital radio services; what plans his Department has to increase coverage for digital radio in Scotland before 2015; what the cost of implementing those plans will be; and who will pay for the implementation.

Si�n Simon: The Spectrum Planning Group, which formed part of the Digital Radio Working Group, reported in November 2008 that 77.8 per cent. of the population in Scotland had access to indoor Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB).
	Coverage of digital radio broadcasting in the UK continues to increase and both the commercial and the BBC's national multiplexes now reach about 90 per cent. of the UK population. The Digital Radio Upgrade programme will require new investment in building and improving DAB coverage and reception. To this end we will be working with the BBC and commercial operators to ensure coverage of DAB is comparable to FM by the end of 2014.
	The Digital Britain White Paper was clear that the investment need to increase coverage will need to come from both commercial operators and the BBC.

Digital Broadcasting: Scotland

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of households in Scotland receive  (a) digital commercial radio and  (b) BBC digital radio services.

Si�n Simon: The Spectrum Planning Group, which formed part of the Digital Radio Working Group, reported in November 2008 that 76.2 per cent. of the population in Scotland had access to digital commercial radio services, while 77.8 per cent. of the population in Scotland has access to BBC digital radio services. Figures are based on indoor coverage.

Industrial Health and Safety

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether written health and safety advice is issued to each new employee in his Department.

Si�n Simon: While a written document is not provided to new staff, they are directed towards the departmental intranet on starting which outlines in detail the procedures and guidance on this matter. They are also given an emergency contact card which encourages them to read the evacuation procedures and provides them with key essential numbers for internal security, NHS Direct and other such contacts.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Estonian military personnel are serving with British Forces in Afghanistan; and in what capacity.

Bob Ainsworth: There are 155 Estonian military personnel serving in Afghanistan. An Estonian Infantry company operates with British forces in Task Force Helmand.

Aircraft Carriers: Procurement

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what sub-contracts have been awarded in his Department's aircraft carriers procurement programme; and what the monetary value is of each such sub-contract.

Quentin Davies: As at 21 December 2009, a total of 93 sub-contracts had been placed by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance to support the build of the two Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers. A detailed list of these sub-contracts will be placed in the Library of the House.

Ex-servicemen: Military Decorations

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to introduce a lapel badge for those who worked in the munitions factories during the Second World War.

Pat McFadden: I have been asked to reply.
	While I gratefully acknowledge the important contribution made by the munitions workers in the Second World War, there are no present plans to introduce a lapel badge.

Helicopters

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of each helicopter type in the  (a) Army Air Corps,  (b) Royal Navy and  (c) Royal Air Force is (i) in service and (ii) fit for purpose.

Quentin Davies: Operational capability is measured in terms of flying hours rather than the number of airframes available. All rotary wing operational requirements are currently being met.
	In-Service has been taken to mean the effective fleet which covers all aircraft barring those which are redundant, declared surplus or awaiting disposal. Aircraft in the Forward Fleet are those aircraft that are available to Front Line Commands for Operational and training purposes. 'Fit for purpose' has been taken to mean which are 'Available'. This is defined as those aircraft within the Forward Fleet that are considered capable of carrying out their planned missions on a given date. The number of helicopters available varies from day to day, primarily due to routine maintenance requirements.
	All aircraft in the Forward Fleet which are not Available are classified as Short-Term Unserviceable, because they may be undergoing first-line maintenance, other minor works or being prepared for transportation. Aircraft which are Short-Term Unserviceable can usually be made Available relatively quickly.
	The Departmental Fleet comprises effective and non-effective aircraft. Non-effective aircraft are those aircraft still on the Military Register which are declared surplus and awaiting disposal and are no longer expected to be flown. Effective aircraft comprise those in the Depth Fleet and those in the Forward Fleet.
	Aircraft in the Depth Fleet are those which are undergoing modification, depth maintenance and repair; in storage (including attrition aircraft); surplus aircraft awaiting classification as 'ineffective'; or Trials aircraft.
	The information requested is shown in the following table. The figures are averages for December 2009.
	
		
			  Helicopter type/mark  Departmental fleet (number of aircraft)  Effective fleet (number of aircraft)  Proportion of departmental fleet that is effective (percentage)  Forward fleet (number of aircraft)  Available (number of aircraft)  Proportion of forward fleet that is available (percentage) 
			  Royal Navy   
			 Lynx Mk3 28 28 100 20 13 65 
			 Lynx Mk8 33 33 100 20 13 65 
			 Merlin Mk1 42 42 100 22 10 45 
			 Sea King Mk 4/6 42 42 100 27 18 67 
			 Sea King Mk5 15 15 100 11 7 64 
			 Sea King Mk7 13 13 100 10 7 70 
			
			  Army   
			 Apache 67 67 100 46 23 50 
			 Gazelle 84 37 44 22 16 73 
			 Lynx Mk 7/9 100 88 88 54 34 63 
			 Bell 212 7 7 100 7 7 100 
			
			  Royal Air Force   
			 Chinook 2/2a 38 38 100 27 21 78 
			 Merlin Mk 3/3a 28 28 100 19 7 37 
			 Puma 34 34 100 24 12 50 
			 Sea King Mk 3/3a 25 25 100 17 9 53

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he plans to reply to the letter of 30 November 2009 from the hon. Member for Billericay regarding a constituent, Mr. J. Dodd.

Bill Rammell: I will reply to the hon. Member for Billericay before 30 January 2010, responding to the letter from his constituent, Mr J. Dodd.

Navy: Caribbean

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Royal Navy ships are located in the Caribbean; and whether any are being tasked to assist with humanitarian efforts in Haiti.

Kevan Jones: There are no Royal Navy ships in the region at this time. The Ministry of Defence is sending a Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship, RFA Largs Bay, to carry vital relief goods to Haiti. This is a high priority task and I trust it will be seen as a significant contribution by HMG to the international aid effort.
	In addition, an eight-strong Royal Military Police protection team has been deployed to assist the FCO's consular Rapid Deployment Team, and we have sent a 12-man Operational Liaison and Reconnaissance Team to assess whether further specialist UK military support is required.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departmental Buildings

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the  (a) area and  (b) estimated value is of (i) vacant and (ii) occupied office space (A) owned and (B) rented by his Department.

Shaun Woodward: The area and annual rental costs for vacant and occupied office space rented by the Northern Ireland Office, including the Public Prosecution Service and the Crown Solicitor's Office is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Name of building  Status  Gross floor area (square metre)  Annual rental costs excluding VAT (£) 
			 Castle Buildings, Stormont Occupied 3,862 510,000 
			 Hillview Buildings, Stormont Occupied 812 47,000 
			 Knockview Buildings, Stormont Occupied 1,921 120,000 
			 PSNI HQ Brooklyn, Belfast Occupied 153 8,640 
			 Dundonald House Annex Occupied n/a 0 
			 Stormont House Bungalow, Stormont Occupied 132 12,000 
			 Stormont House and Annexe, Stormont Occupied 3,225 64,000 
			 Massey House, Stormont Occupied 2,475 45,000 
			 Unit 2, Walled Garden, Stormont Vacant 350 26,000 
			 Lagan House, Belfast Occupied 947 100,000 
			 Millennium House,  4th Floor, Belfast Occupied 594 92,000 
			 Millennium House,  6th Floor, Belfast Occupied 1,579 219,000 
			 Windsor House, 20th Floor, Belfast Occupied 297 31,400 
			 Thames House, London Occupied 3,098 902,576 
			 Royal Courts of Justice, Chichester Street, Belfast Occupied 65 6,250 
			 Belfast Chambers,  93 Chichester Street, Belfast Occupied 5,465 525,828 
			 Lisburn Chambers, Linenhall Street, Lisburn Occupied 2,493 236,500 
			 Linum Chambers, Bedford square, Bedford Street, Belfast Occupied 2,802 295,000 
			 Ballymena Chambers, Parkway, Ballymena Occupied 2,494 179,800 
			 Omagh Chambers,  2 Townhall Square, High Street, Omagh Occupied 2,265 196,000 
			 Foyle Chambers,  35 Limavady Road, Londonderry Occupied 2,365 206,000 
			 3rd Floor, Royal Courts  of Justice Occupied 1,239 78,500 
		
	
	The area and net book value for vacant and occupied office space owned by the Northern Ireland Office is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Name of building  Status  Gross floor area (square metre)  Net book value (£) 
			 Hillsborough Castle, Hillsborough. Owned 4226 77,272,207 
			 Maryfield, Belfast Owned n/a 3,000,000 
			 n/a = not available

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many iPODs have been bought by his Department since 2005; and at what cost.

Paul Goggins: There have been no iPODS bought by the Northern Ireland Office, including its arm's length bodies and the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland but excluding its agencies and NDPBs, since 2005.

HEALTH

Dental Services: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of children in the London borough of Bexley were treated by a dentist providing NHS services in the last 12 months.

Ann Keen: Information is not available in the format requested. The proportion of child patients seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 24 months in Bexley Care Trust is 59.1 per cent. as at 30 September 2009.

Health Services: Sight Impaired

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to issue guidance to NHS bodies on the provision of information to blind and partially-sighted people at the time of their diagnosis with another condition or illness.

Ann Keen: Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, service providers are required to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. This may include producing information about the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions in different formats, depending on an assessment of the person's needs. It is up to individual service providers as to how they make any necessary reasonable adjustments.

Hospital Wards: Closures

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many wards operated by Southend Hospital Trust have been closed during January 2010; and for what reason.

Mike O'Brien: The information requested is a matter for Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. We have written to John Bruce, Chair of Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, informing him of the hon. Member's inquiries. He will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

Influenza

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many persons were recorded as having contracted seasonal influenza in each year since 1998; and how many persons were recorded as having contracted swine influenza in the last 12 months.

Gillian Merron: Data on the total numbers of cases of seasonal influenza are not collected.
	At the start of the swine flu pandemic, all suspected cases were investigated by laboratory testing. As of 1 July 2009 there were 6,929 confirmed cases of swine flu in the United Kingdom.
	From July, however, as case numbers rose rapidly, only a small proportion of suspected cases were laboratory confirmed. From that point onwards, estimates of case numbers were made by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), with the aim of providing an indication of the trend in the occurrence of the disease in the population. It was recognised, however, that there was considerable uncertainty in the case number estimates and, in order to allow for this, wide ranges around the estimates were provided.
	A total of 845,000 cases of illness due to influenza infection were estimated to have occurred in the population of England during the pandemic in 2009 based on the published, weekly, HPA estimates up to 20 December 2009 (range 415,000 to 1,662,000). This is recognised to underestimate the true number of people infected due to the occurrence of infection in many others who had either very mild illness or infection with no illness at all.

Influenza: Vaccination

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been inoculated against influenza in  (a) West Chelmsford constituency and  (b) Chelmsford local authority area in each of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: Data on the number of people who have received influenza vaccine are available nationally and at the strategic health authority and the primary care trust (PCT) levels. No data are available for individual parliamentary constituencies or local authorities.
	Data on the total number of people vaccinated against influenza during the influenza season (winter) of the years 2005-06 to 2009-10 are given in the following table for the PCT that have included the West Chelmsford constituency and Chelmsford local authority.
	
		
			  Influenza season (winter)  Primary care trust( 1)  Number of people vaccinated with seasonal influenza vaccine  Number of people vaccinated with swine influenza vaccine 
			 2005-06 Chelmsford 16,492 - 
			  Maldon and South Chelmsford 11,176 - 
			  Witham, Braintree and Halstead 21,786 - 
			 2006-07 Mid Essex 50,712 - 
			 2007-08 Mid Essex 55,423 - 
			 2008-09 Mid Essex 57,626 - 
			 2009-10 Mid Essex (2)53,058 (3)8,942 
			 (1) Primary care trust boundaries changed in 2006. (2 )Provisional data up to end December 2009. These data include vaccination of frontline healthcare workers for which there are no data available for the primary care trust in earlier years. (3) Provisional data up to end of November 2009 (December 2009 data were not available at time of writing). These data include vaccination of frontline healthcare workers. The figure is for the number of people that have received at least one dose of vaccine. Most people only need one dose of swine influenza vaccine but some require two doses given at least three weeks apart (data on the number of people that have completed their vaccination course are not yet available).

NHS: Finance

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  which NHS charities which have NHS bodies as corporate trustees have submitted requests to change to independent trustees in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  which NHS charities will be required to consolidate their funds into the accounts of the relevant NHS body under the new International Accounting Standard 27 being introduced in April 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: Three national health service bodies submitted a request to appoint independent trustees. Two have since indicated that they do not want to proceed at this stage.
	It is not possible to identify individual NHS charities that will be required to consolidate their accounts into those of their relevant NHS body under the new International Accounting Standard 27 in April 2010, as application of the accounting standard will be determined locally taking into account the materiality of charitable funds. Our best estimate is that this may be around 30, which amounts to around 10 per cent. of those who are currently governed by a corporate trustee.
	However, we are continuing to work with the Treasury, the Charity Commission and other stakeholders to seek ways to strengthen the independent governance of NHS charities to enable us to meet the standard without invoking the requirement for consolidation.
	Although accounts may be consolidated for reporting, the charity's funds would remain wholly independent from NHS budgets.

NHS: Finance

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the additional cost to the NHS arising from incidents attributable to weather conditions in January 2010.

Mike O'Brien: This is a matter for the local national health service. The NHS, as part of its planning process, ensures operational challenges, such as adverse weather are factored into local contingency plans, including the cost of treating patients.

NHS: Finance

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the pre-Budget report, which budgetary headings of NHS spending will comprise  (a) the 95 per cent. of NHS frontline spending due to rise in line with inflation and  (b) the 5 per cent. that will not.

Mike O'Brien: National health service frontline spending is defined as 95 per cent. of the NHS near-cash expenditure limit in 2010-11. This covers all NHS spending that supports patient care.
	The remaining 5 per cent. covers a large number of budgets that do not directly contribute to patient care in the NHS including areas like consultancy and administrative budgets for the Department, arm's length bodies and strategic health authorities.
	Full details will be set out in the next spending review.

NHS: ICT

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much NHS benefits and pensions sub-departments spent on information technology in the last three financial years; how much of this was spent on  (a) software development and testing and  (b) application including (i) staff training, (ii) the cost of new hardware and software and (iii) the cost of launching into the live environment.

Ann Keen: NHS Pensions, a division of the Business Services Authority, administers the NHS Pension Scheme on behalf of the Department. They are unable to breakdown the costs of launching into the live environment because these costs are not broken down to this level within their accounts. These particular costs are therefore included in the overall development and testing costs in section 1 of the following table:
	
		
			  NHS Pensions 
			  £ 
			   2007-08  2008-09  2009-10( 1)  Total 
			 1. Software development and testing 56,508 3,479,307 11,828,878 15,364,694 
			 2. Staff training 7,240 1,266 17,310 25,816 
			 3. Cost of new hardware and software - 19,921 187,057 206,978 
			 Total 63,748 3,500,494 12,033,245 15,597,487 
			 (1) April to December.

NHS: ICT

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS IT projects have been outsourced to companies based overseas in the last three years; and what the monetary value is of each such contract.

Mike O'Brien: Within the national programme for information technology (IT), no discrete system or service projects have been outsourced to companies based overseas during the period. Comprehensive information is not held centrally about local IT procurements by national health service organisations outside of the national programme, and could be obtained only at disproportionate expense.

NHS: ICT

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS has allocated for the  (a) procurement,  (b) maintenance,  (c) compliance testing and  (d) security of IT systems in 2010-11.

Mike O'Brien: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

NHS: Negligence

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of clinical negligence which were funded by conditional fee agreements were closed in each of the last five years; in how many such cases damages were paid  (a) by agreement to settle and  (b) by award; what the total cost was of defending each such case where damages were paid; how much was paid to claimants in legal costs in (i) total, (ii) base costs and (iii) success fees; and in such cases where damages were paid, how much was paid in after-the-event insurance premiums.

Ann Keen: The information requested is in the following table and was provided by the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA). The NHSLA is only able to provide an overall total of claimant costs because a global figure is recorded in its database. To provide a detailed breakdown of claimant costs, including After the Event insurance, would be at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Number of claims where the claimant funding was conditional fee arrangement (CFA) closed April 2004 to March 2009 
			  Year of closure  Number of CFA claims closed  Number of claims  Damages paid (£)  Defence costs  paid (£)  Claimant costs  paid (£) 
			 2004-05 233 151 4,551,050 886,720 2,084,936 
			 2005-06 861 625 31,892,845 5,177,915 14,448,748 
			 2006-07 1,142 799 46,973,706 7,579,297 22,640,640 
			 2007-08 1,559 1,127 62,559,320 10,596,148 37,934,943 
			 2008-09 1,579 1,120 68,841,494 9,828,907 38,888,773 
			 Total 5,374 3,822 214,818,415 34,068,986 115,998,040

Primary Care Trusts: Overtime

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much each primary care trust has paid in staff overtime in January 2010.

Ann Keen: Information about how much each primary care trust has paid in overtime in January 2010 will be available from the Electronic Staff Record in March 2010.

Swine Flu

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of persons who died following contraction of swine influenza in the last 12 months had also contracted other diseases.

Gillian Merron: Overall approximately 80 per cent. of people who died with Pandemic H1N1 (2009) infection also had other pre-existing diseases or other underlying medical conditions.
	Further detail is available in a report in the  British Medical Journal, 'Donaldson LJ, Rutter PD, Ellis BM, Greaves FEC, Mytton OT, Pebody RG and Yardley IE. Mortality from pandemic A/H1N1 2009 influenza in England: public health surveillance study'. BMJ 2009; 339 b5213; this is available online at:
	http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/339/dec10_1/b5213

Swine Flu: Vaccination

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of unused stocks of swine influenza vaccine can be returned to suppliers at no cost to the public purse.

Gillian Merron: We are unable to return vaccines that have already been delivered. The options for handling the anticipated surplus of vaccine are currently being explored with the manufacturers. We will be seeking to minimise the overall cost to the British taxpayer.

Swine Influenza: Expenditure

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's estimated expenditure under each budgetary heading has been on the swine influenza outbreak.

Gillian Merron: The spend on drugs for pandemic flu preparedness (not swine flu specific) prior to the swine flu pandemic was over £500 million. We also had plans for additional committed spend on further drugs. Since the outbreak, that spend has taken our expenditure to over £1 billion. We are not able to break down this number due to confidentiality clauses in our contracts with the various manufacturers.
	The costs of consumables are also subject to confidentiality clauses.
	The system development costs incurred to date for the National Pandemic Flu Service amount to approximately £13.5 million. Further operational costs are all in commercial confidence.
	The cost of advertising and publicity activity in England on swine influenza, including the Swine Flu Information Phone Line, is approximately £15 million to date.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Departmental Billing

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of invoices from suppliers his Department paid within 10 days of receipt in December 2009.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office performance for paying all invoices within 30 days and paying SME compliant invoices within 10 days in December 2009 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Table 1: Home Office performance of paying total number of invoices within 30 days and SME compliant invoices within 10 days for December 2009-Home Office and UKBA 
			   Number/percentage 
			 Total number of all invoices paid 5,623 
			 Percentage of total number of all invoices paid within 30 days 95 
			 Number of SMEs' compliant invoices paid within 10 days 1,282 
			 SMEs-percentage of compliant invoices paid with 10 days 99 
		
	
	CRB's performance of paying invoices within 10 days in December 2009 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Table 2: CRB performance of paying SME invoices within 10 days for December 2009 
			   Number/percentage 
			 Total number of all invoices 284 
			 Number of SME invoices paid within 10 days 109 
			 SME percentage of invoices paid within 10 days 89.34

Departmental Contracts

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 11 January 2010,  Official Report, column 703W, on the UK Border Agency, who his Department's commercial partners are; and which are the 110 locations referred to.

Phil Woolas: UKBA has global contracts with two suppliers to provide visa application support services across all its regions. These are VFS-Global and CSC.
	The two commercial partners operate 105 visa application centres, the locations of which are in the following list. This is an updated figure.
	
		
			  Country  Location 
			 Algeria Algiers 
			   
			 Bahrain Manama 
			   
			 Bangladesh Chittagong 
			  Dhaka 
			  Sylhet 
			   
			 Brazil Brasilia 
			  Rio de Janeiro 
			  Sao Paulo 
			   
			 Canada Edmonton 
			  Halifax 
			  Ottawa 
			  Toronto 
			  Vancouver 
			   
			 China Beijing 
			  Chengdu 
			  Chongqing 
			  Fuzhou 
			  Guangzhou 
			  Hangzhou 
			  Jinan 
			  Nanjing 
			  Shanghai 
			  Shenyang 
			  Shenzhen 
			  Wuhan 
			   
			 Egypt Alexandria 
			  Cairo 
			   
			 Ethiopia Addis Ababa 
			   
			 France Bordeaux 
			  Marseille 
			  Paris 
			   
			 Germany Berlin 
			  Dusseldorf 
			  Munich 
			   
			 Ghana Accra 
			   
			 India New Delhi 
			  Jalandar 
			  Chandigarh 
			  Kolkata 
			  Chennai 
			  Hyderabad 
			  Bangalore 
			  Cochin 
			  Mumbai South 
			  Mumbai North 
			  Ahmedabad 
			  Pune 
			   
			 Italy Rome 
			   
			 Indonesia Jakarta 
			   
			 Jamaica Kingston 
			   
			 Japan Osaka 
			   
			  Tokyo 
			 Jordan Amman 
			   
			 Kazakhstan Almaty 
			   
			 Kenya Nairobi 
			   
			 Kuwait Kuwait City 
			   
			 Lebanon Beirut 
			   
			 Libya Tripoli 
			   
			 Malawi Lilongwe 
			   
			 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur 
			   
			 Mozambique Maputo 
			   
			 Namibia Windhoek 
			   
			 Nepal Kathmandu 
			   
			 Nigeria Abuja 
			  Lagos - Ikeja 
			  Lagos - VI 
			 Oman Muscat 
			   
			 Pakistan Islamabad 
			  Karachi 
			  Lahore 
			  Mirpur 
			   
			 Philippines Manila 
			   
			 Qatar Doha 
			   
			 Russia Yekaterinburg 
			  Moscow 
			  Novosibirsk 
			  Rostov 
			  St. Petersburg 
			   
			 Serbia Belgrade 
			   
			 Singapore Singapore 
			   
			 Saudi Arabia Jeddah 
			  Riyadh 
			  Al Khobar 
			   
			 South Africa Cape Town 
			  Durban 
			  Johannesburg 
			  Port Elizabeth 
			  Pretoria 
			 South Korea Seoul 
			   
			 Sri Lanka Colombo 
			   
			 Switzerland Geneva 
			   
			  Zurich 
			 Syria Damascus 
			 Taiwan Taipei 
			   
			 Thailand Bangkok 
			   
			 Turkey Ankara 
			  Bursa 
			  Gazientep 
			  Istanbul 
			  Izmir 
			   
			 UAE Abu Dhabi 
			  Dubai 
			   
			 Uganda Kampala 
			   
			 Ukraine Kiev 
			   
			 Zimbabwe Harare

Entry Clearances

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of appeals against visa refusal decisions at all overseas posts were allowed in  (a) January 2009,  (b) April 2009,  (c) July 2009 and  (d) October 2009.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is given in the following table. Immigration statistics for October 2009 will be published on 25 February.
	UKBA monitors closely the reasons why appeals were overturned and uses the information to improve decision-making quality.
	
		
			  Worldwide 
			  Report year 2009  Allowed rate (percentage) 
			 January 44 
			 April 38 
			 July 41

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many colleges approved by the UK Border Agency between December 2008 and December 2009 were subsequently suspended and their licence either not issued or cancelled.

Phil Woolas: Of the colleges admitted to the Register of Sponsors for Tiers 2, 4 and 5 during the period 1 December 2008 and 31 December 2009 as of 18 January 2010 the UK Border Agency has revoked the licences of 13 sponsors and suspended a further 85.
	The figure quoted is not provided under National Statistics protocols and has been derived from local management information and is therefore provisional and subject to change.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many students who failed to attend college or to pay their fees were returned to their country of origin between December 2008 and December 2009.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is not centrally recorded and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many student spouse visas were issued from the beginning of December 2008 to December 2009.

Phil Woolas: With the introduction of tier 4 of the points based system (students) on 31 March 2009, the UK Border Agency kept a separate record of visas issued to partners of students. Hitherto, both partners and children of students were recorded in the same category, Student Dependent. The number of visas issued in these categories in the period December 2008 to September 2009 are shown in the following table. Visa statistics for the last quarter of 2009 will be published on 25 February.
	
		
			  Visas issued: student dependents: December 2008 to September 2009 
			  Visa category  Visas issued 
			 Student dependent (spouses + children) December 2008 to March 2009 10,961 
			 Tier four (general) dependent-partners April 2008 to September 2009 6,566

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) husbands and  (b) wives of persons studying in the UK from (i) India, (ii) Pakistan and (iii) Bangladesh were issued with visas for the purpose of entering the UK to join their spouses between January 2007 and December 2009.

Phil Woolas: The number of visas issued to partners is as follows:
	
		
			  Visas issued: student dependents: January 2007 to September 2009 
			  Visa Category  India  Pakistan  Bangladesh  Total 
			 Student Dependent(spouses + children January 2007 - March 2009 5331 3822 2129 1,1282 
			 Tier four (General) Dependent -Partners April 2008 - September 2009 1869 89 54 2,012 
		
	
	With the introduction of Tier 4 of the Points Based System (Students) on 31 March 2009, the UK Border Agency kept a separate record of visas issued to partners of students. Hitherto, both partners and children of students were recorded in the same category, Student Dependent. It is not therefore possible to provide the information requested except at disproportionate cost.

Immobilisation of Vehicles

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department has paid in vehicle clamping charges incurred on  (a) privately-owned and  (b) publicly-owned land in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The Department's accounting systems do not hold the information at the requested level of detail. An answer could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

Industrial Health and Safety

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the health and safety advice issued to each new starter upon joining his Department.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office and its agencies, UKBA, IPS and CRB provide general health and safety advice to new starters through induction training and local line manager input. This advice includes emergency and evacuation procedures, accident reporting and first aid. The Health and Safety policy and other health and safety information is also available for all employees on the Home Office intranet.
	We have no centrally produced Health and Safety advice sheet that can be placed in the Library but will make available a copy of the Home Office Health and Safety policy.

Members: Correspondence

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to reply to the letters from the hon. Member for North-East Hampshire of 18 June and 17 August 2009 on his constituent, Mr. Peter Booth.

Phil Woolas: The signed reply letter was sent to the hon. Member for North-East Hampshire on 18 January 2010.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Billericay of 27 October and 8 December 2009 on his constituents, Mr. and Mrs. Adedoyin.

Phil Woolas: Lin Homer, chief executive of the UK Border Agency, wrote to the Member on 14 January 2010.

Passports: Fraud

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fake British passports have been recovered  (a) in the UK and  (b) overseas in each year since 2005.

Meg Hillier: The number of counterfeit, or 'fake' UK passports identified in the UK and recorded by UK Border Agency since 2005 is as follows. The figures for 2009 are not currently available.
	
		
			   UK (number) 
			 2005 6 
			 2006 7 
			 2007 13 
			 2008 23 
			 Total 49 
		
	
	Figures for 'fake' UK passports encountered overseas are not available.

Passports: Lost Property

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will inquire into the whereabouts of the passport of Miss Inaaya Khurram post ref Abu Dhabi 296566; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: I am unable to comment on individual cases in PQ replies. I have written to the hon. Member in response to the question he has raised.

Prosecutions: EU Action

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect on judicial systems in the UK of the European Public Prosecutor envisaged under the provisions of the Lisbon treaty; and if he will make a statement.

Meg Hillier: There has been no assessment of the impact of a European Public Prosecutor (EPP) on judicial systems in the UK because no proposal to create such a body has been presented.
	While the Lisbon treaty created a legal base for an EPP any proposal seeking to take advantage of that legal base would have to be agreed by unanimity of all participating member states. The UK would also have the choice whether or not to participate by virtue of our Justice and Home Affairs Opt-In Protocol. Therefore, under no circumstances could we be obliged to take part in the creation of an EPP were a proposal to be made.

Repatriation: Expenditure

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on the reintegration scheme in 2008-09.

Phil Woolas: Reintegration assistance to support enforced and voluntary removals is provided by Assisted Voluntary Returns programmes and the Facilitated Returns Scheme.
	The cost of the 2008-09 Voluntary Assisted Return and Reintegration programmes is currently not available as it is subject to audit, which will be made available in spring 2011.
	The chief executive of the UK Border Agency will provide information to the Home Affairs Committee on FRS expenditure when she writes in January 2010.

Surveillance: Local Government

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 7 January 2010,  Official Report, column 487W, on Members: surveillance, whether guidance has been given to public authorities on the use of surveillance authorised under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 in respect of hon. Members and noble Lords.

David Hanson: Guidance to public authorities authorising covert techniques under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 is given in Home Office statutory codes of practice approved by Parliament. We are currently revising the codes on covert surveillance and covert human intelligence sources to make it clear that special consideration must be given to authorisations which involve information relating to communications between a Member of Parliament and a constituent in respect of constituency matters. The draft revised codes were laid before Parliament on 5 and 18 January to come into effect on 6 April.

Surveillance: Local Government

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 7 January 2010,  Official Report, column 524W, on the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, which 34 local authorities supported the use of the Act by local authorities for surveillance related to dog fouling, littering or school enrolment checking.

David Hanson: My response of 7 January 2010,  Official Report, column 524W, to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) stated that the relevant details would be published shortly and copies placed in the House Library. That was done on 18 January.

UK Border Agency: Telephone Services

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of calls to the UK Border Agency helpline which have not been connected in the last 12 months.

Phil Woolas: We do not record how many calls have not been connected to the UK Border Agency Helpline. Management information is only available for the resolution or otherwise of those calls that are connected.

Vetting: Young People

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Criminal Record Bureau checks have been made on individuals who were under the age of 18 at the time of checking in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Meg Hillier: The total volume of applications made for Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks by people under the age of 18 during the financial year April 2009 to 18 January 2010 is 111,949.

JUSTICE

Departmental Advertising

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what advertising campaigns for which his Department is responsible have  (a) commenced and  (b) continued in 2009-10; and what the cost of each such campaign has been.

Michael Wills: Advertising expenditure on campaigns is interpreted as advertising expenditure other than for recruitment purposes.
	The nature of the Ministry of Justice's activities-principally administering the courts, prisons, probation and tribunals systems-is such that it does not engage in significant levels of advertising on campaigns.
	A survey of business areas across the Department and its Executive agencies (the National Offender Management Service, Her Majesty's Courts Service, the Tribunals Service and the office of the Public Guardian) identified the following advertising campaigns which have commenced or continued in the 2009-10 year to date.
	
		
			  Campaign  Cost (£)  Date 
			 Community Payback(1) Funded by Home Office March/April 2009 
			 Youth Justice Campaign(2) Funded jointly by the Youth Task Force and Joint Youth Justice Unit December 2009 
			 Promotional Adverts(3) 2,663 2009/10 (expenditure up until 12 January 2010 
			 Total 26,623 - 
			 (1) The Community Payback campaign was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice and ran in March/April 2009. It was funded by the Home Office as part of the wider Justice Seen Justice Done campaign. The campaign informed the public of their power to nominate projects through which offenders can pay back local communities for their crimes without taking away work from others or making a profit for anyone.  (2) The Youth Justice campaign was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice and ran in December 2009 in the north-west of England. The campaign informed people of measures in place to tackle youth antisocial behaviour and offending. The total cost of £122,559 was funded by the Youth Taskforce (part of the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF)) and the Joint Youth Justice Unit (which is managed and funded jointly by the DCSF and the Ministry of Justice).  (3) The Law Commission within the Democracy, Constitution and Law division of the Ministry of Justice spent £2,663 on a number of promotional adverts in law journals, primarily to raise the profile of the Law Commission in order to: improve the rate at which proposals get implemented encourage a wider level of response to proposals on law reform encourage buy in for current and future work to continue the promotion of better law. 
		
	
	In addition to these outward-facing campaigns, the Ministry's Communications Directorate has undertaken various internal campaigns to promote specific corporate initiatives to staff. The cost of these campaigns cannot be separately identified from the wider work of the Communications Directorate.

Departmental Training

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many sessions of media training were organised for Ministers in his Department in each of the last three years.

Michael Wills: Training is available to Ministers on a range of issues, including handling the media, as part of both their induction and continuing development to help them carry out their duties effectively under the Ministerial Code. No sessions of media training have been organised for Ministry of Justice Ministers in the last three years.

Departmental Waste

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what volume of waste his Department generated in each of the last three years; what percentage of this was  (a) paper,  (b) plastic,  (c) glass,  (d) metal,  (e) electrical goods and batteries and  (f) food waste; and what percentage of his Department's waste was (i) disposed of securely, (ii) disposed of in landfill and (iii) recycled.

Michael Wills: The waste figures for the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) are not separated out therefore individual figures for the amount of: paper, plastic, glass, metal, electrical goods and batteries and food waste generated and the percentage of each type that was recycled are not available; nor are figures for the amount of waste disposed of securely and disposed of in landfill.
	The MOJ was created in May 2007. All central Government Departments and executive agencies are required to report on sustainable operations on the Government estate (SOGE) targets as part of the sustainable development in government (SDiG) reporting process. The waste reduction and recycling targets are to:
	Reduce waste arising by 5 per cent. by 2010 and by 25 per cent. by 2020 relative to their 2004-05 levels, and to
	Increase recycling figures to 40 per cent. of their waste arising by 2010 and by 75 per cent. by 2020.
	The estimate made of total waste arising from the Ministry of Justice in 2007-08 was 71,060 tonnes of which 22 per cent. was recycled. The assessment of 2007-08 performance can be found on the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) website:
	http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications.php?id=853
	The estimate made of total waste arising from the Ministry of Justice in 2008-09 was 82,3277 tonnes-a reduction of 19.9 per cent. against a revised baseline. This represents excellent progress and the Ministry of Justice has already exceeded the 2010-11 waste reduction target; 36.6 per cent. was recycled. The assessment of 2008-09 performance, published by CESP on 18 December 2009, can be found on the OGC website:
	http://www.ogc.gov.uk/sustainability_programme_progress.asp
	Recording food waste as part of SOGE (sustainable operations on the Government estate) is optional. The following table gives an estimate of food waste generated at the Ministry of Justice by those areas that have collected the data.
	
		
			  Tonnes 
			   2007-8  2008-09  2009-10 
			 MOJ HQ 106 168 67 
			 National Archives 3 3 3 
		
	
	HM Prison Service carried out two surveys as part of a business case to evaluate requirements for in-vessel composting and de-watering technology with the overall aim of providing an effective solution to sites with food waste disposal issues and upholding the philosophy of waste to resource. The philosophy of waste to resource means taking waste and processing it into a useful, useable product and adding value to it. In 2006, based on 32 prisons, on average 1.45 kgs of food per prison place were wasted per week. In 2007, based on 51 prisons, the figure was 1.34 kgs of food waste per prison place per week.
	
		
			   Number of prisons responding  Operational capacity  Average food waste per place per week (kg) 
			 2006 32 17,416 1.45 
			 2007 51 30,121 1.34 
		
	
	The use of de-watering and in-vessel composting technology has been introduced at around 35 prisons to process food waste into compost. The compost is used on prison gardens and horticultural activities thereby reducing the requirement for bought-in compost and contributing towards the HM Prison Service strategy for phasing out peat-based products.
	Additionally, a small scale anaerobic digestion plant has been installed in Guy Marsh Prison with the objective of processing biodegradable wastes, including food waste, into biogas.

Industrial Health and Safety

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether written health and safety advice is issued to each new employee in his Department.

Michael Wills: While formal written health and safety advice is not issued to each new employee in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), written policy and guidance is available to all staff on the intranet. The MoJ is committed to ensuring that all staff receive appropriate information, instruction and training on the health and safety matters relevant to their roles, and health, safety and fire awareness are an important part of the induction process for new staff. Moreover, health and safety risk assessments and safe systems of work are available at the point of use. HM Prison Service was awarded the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Training Trophy in 2007 for excellence in the delivery of work-related health and safety training.

Prisons: Drugs

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many internal audits of mandatory drug testing have been carried out in each of the last two years; and if he will publish them.

Maria Eagle: National Offender Management Service's (NOMS) Internal Audit completed two audits of mandatory drug testing (MDT) in the last two years. A follow-up audit which assessed progress made in implementing recommendations made in an earlier report was completed in 2008. A further full audit of MDT was completed in August 2009. From January 2010, Internal Audit will undertake a regular programme of MDT audits. This will be become part of the existing establishment audit programme and will review MDT procedures in approximately 35 establishments per year. Reports are published internally.

Remand in Custody

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many young people of each ethnicity aged  (a) under 18,  (b) between 18 and 20 and  (c) between 21 and 25 years old have been (i) remanded in custody and (ii) sentenced to custody in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: Figures requested are shown in the following tables.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	
		
			  Remand receptions by ethnicity and age band 2004 
			   Ages  
			   15-17  18-20  21-25  Over 25  Total 
			 Total 4,355 8,517 31,943 9,741 54,556 
			 White 3,343 6,407 8,817 22,336 40,903 
			 Mixed 217 330 380 718 1,645 
			 Asian or Asian British 179 508 964 1,783 3,434 
			 Black or Black British 573 1,096 1,676 4,350 7,695 
			 Chinese or Other 27 108 124 334 593 
			 Unrecorded 13 38 78 27 156 
			 1991 census codes 3 30 67 30 130 
		
	
	
		
			  Sentenced receptions by ethnicity and age band 2004 
			   Ages  
			   15-17  18-20  21-25  Over 25  Total 
			 Total 5,172 13,092 22,240 52,822 93,326 
			 White 4,120 10,652 17,828 42,959 75,559 
			 Mixed 253 395 575 1,037 2,260 
			 Asian or Asian British 227 683 1,482 2,425 4,817 
			 Black or Black British 529 1,174 2,068 5,738 9,509 
			 Chinese or Other 26 105 158 390 679 
			 Unrecorded 16 47 58 120 241 
			 1991 census codes 1 36 71 153 261 
		
	
	
		
			  Remand receptions by ethnicity and age band 2005 
			   Ages  
			   15-17  18-20  21-25  Over 25  Total 
			 Total 4,358 8,405 11,661 31,031 55,455 
			 White 3,272 6,271 8,435 22,918 40,896 
			 Mixed 232 319 366 715 1,632 
			 Asian or Asian British 202 509 977 2,114 3,802 
			 Black or Black British 612 1,186 1,666 4,742 8,206 
			 Chinese or Other 25 84 172 428 709 
			 Unrecorded 13 32 26 70 141 
			 1991 census codes 2 4 19 44 69 
		
	
	
		
			  Sentenced receptions by ethnicity and age band 2005 
			   Ages  
			   15-17  18-20  21-25  Over 25  Total 
			 Total 5,175 12,644 20,495 52,100 90,414 
			 White 4,185 10,280 16,275 41,550 72,290 
			 Mixed 246 418 524 988 2,176 
			 Asian or Asian British 218 644 1,435 2,869 5,166 
			 Black or Black British 498 1,167 1,971 5,884 9,520 
			 Chinese or Other 18 87 203 611 919 
			 Unrecorded 8 42 63 150 263 
			 1991 census codes 2 6 24 48 80 
		
	
	
		
			  Remand receptions by ethnicity and age band 2006 
			   Ages  
			   15-17  18-20  21-25  Over 25  Total 
			 Total 4,538 8,499 11,249 31,523 55,809 
			 White 3,284 6,254 8,023 23,258 40,819 
			 Mixed 288 395 392 722 1,797 
			 Asian or Asian British 204 489 1,005 2,188 3,886 
			 Black or Black British 714 1,229 1,607 4,709 8,259 
			 Chinese or Other 34 99 184 522 839 
			 Unrecorded 9 28 25 78 140 
			 1991 census codes 5 5 13 46 69 
		
	
	
		
			  Immediate custodial sentence receptions by ethnicity and age band 2006 
			   Ages  
			   15-17  18-20  21-25  Over 25  Total 
			 Total 5,291 12,694 19,437 50,712 88,134 
			 White 4,154 10,247 15,155 40,266 69,822 
			 Mixed 271 463 515 1,005 2,254 
			 Asian or Asian British 229 645 1,493 2,831 5,198 
			 Black or Black British 604 1,168 1,963 5,777 9,512 
			 Chinese or Other 25 118 248 633 1,024 
			 Unrecorded 6 49 48 159 262 
			 1991 census codes 2 4 15 41 62 
		
	
	
		
			  Remand receptions by ethnicity and age band 2007 
			   Ages  
			   15-17  18-20  21-25  Over 25  Total 
			 Total 4,460 8,299 11,197 31,349 55,305 
			 White 3,140 5,996 7,898 22,466 39,500 
			 Mixed 308 392 420 793 1,913 
			 Asian or Asian British 233 490 959 2,305 3,987 
			 Black or Black British 721 1,293 1,616 4,952 8,582 
			 Chinese or Other 42 115 262 753 1,172 
			 Unrecorded 13 10 24 58 105 
			 1991 census codes 3 3 18 22 46 
		
	
	
		
			  Immediate custodial sentence receptions by ethnicity and age band 2007 
			   Ages  
			   15-17  18-20  21-25  Over 25  Total 
			 Total 5,356 13,666 19,617 51,622 90,261 
			 White 4,138 11,047 15,369 40,872 71,426 
			 Mixed 369 586 630 1,022 2,607 
			 Asian or Asian British 232 625 1,380 3,069 5,306 
			 Black or Black British 582 1,277 1,919 5,794 9,572 
			 Chinese or Other 24 106 247 720 1,097 
			 Unrecorded 9 18 67 135 229 
			 1991 census codes 2 7 5 10 24 
		
	
	
		
			  Remand receptions by ethnicity and age band 2008 
			   Ages  
			   15-17  18-20  21-25  Over 25  All 
			 All 4,051 8,413 11,460 33,493 57,417 
			 White 2,772 5,934 8,086 23,976 40,768 
			 Mixed 293 467 471 857 2,088 
			 Asian or Asian British 233 546 983 2,690 4,452 
			 Black or Black British 706 1,313 1,674 5,128 8,821 
			 Chinese or Other 39 130 229 803 1,201 
			 Unrecorded 6 13 14 37 70 
			 1991 census codes 2 10 3 2 17 
		
	
	
		
			  Ethnic by age (sentenced) 2008 
			   15-17  18-20  21-25  Over 25  All 
			 All 5,290 14,199 21,535 57,796 98,820 
			 White 3,982 11,339 16,981 45,701 78,003 
			 Mixed 331 621 723 1,209 2,884 
			 Asian or British Asian 263 709 1,522 3,642 6,136 
			 Black or Black British 691 1,401 2,044 6,232 10,368 
			 Chinese and Other 14 112 222 933 1,281 
			 Not recorded 7 12 34 69 122 
			 1991 census codes 2 5 9 10 26

Reoffenders

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2009,  Official Report, column 1246W, on reoffenders, for what reason some offenders were listed in prison data but could not be found on the police national computer.

Maria Eagle: The answer I gave the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) on 16 December 2009,  Official Report, columns 1246-47W, presented figures on offences committed by offenders while on Home Detention Curfew (HDC). These figures were obtained by matching a dataset of offenders released on HDC with offending data taken from an extract of the police national computer (PNC). There is no unique offender ID common to the two datasets. The matching process uses each offender's surname, forename, gender and date of birth and involves both direct matching and a variety of 'sounds like' algorithms to allow for minor errors in data entry. A small proportion of cases in each quarter cannot be matched; this can result from errors in the recording of personal details in either of the data sources, from duplicate matches when it is not possible to decide between PNC records for offenders with similar details, or from records missing from the PNC. In 2007-08 one per cent. of the offenders listed on the prison data as released on HDC could not be matched to the PNC.

Sexual Offences: Finance

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much funding the Government allocated to the Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre in 2008-09.

Claire Ward: The Government provided Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre with £124,300 of funding in 2008-09.

CABINET OFFICE

Government Departments: Telecommunications

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will discuss with BT improvements to the resilience and security of its telecommunications services to Government Departments.

Tessa Jowell: BT and other suppliers of telecommunications services to Government Departments discuss these issues with senior officials directly and in a number of forums including in the Electronic Communications Resilience and Response Group.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Apprentices

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of  (a) 16 and  (b) 17-year-olds are (i) employed and (ii) non-employed apprentices on (A) Level 2 and (B) Level 3 frameworks.

Iain Wright: According to DCSF official participation estimates for young people in England at the end of 2008, 3.1 per cent. of academic age 16-year-olds were on a level 2 apprenticeship and 0.7 per cent. were on a level 3 apprenticeship. The corresponding figures for 17-year-olds were 4.9 per cent. on level 2 apprenticeships and 1.4 per cent. on level 3 apprenticeships.
	These estimates are based on snapshot data for the end of 2008 and on the highest course of study of the young person. They cannot be broken down by employment status because the Learning and Skills Council's Individualised Learner Record (ILR) which is the source of information for apprenticeships only has employment status when they start their apprenticeship and this often changes during their time on an apprenticeship.

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many iPODs have been bought by his Department since 2005; and at what cost.

Diana Johnson: The DCSF have no records of any iPOD devices being purchased.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much expenditure his Department has incurred in respect of meals and subsistence for  (a) him and  (b) each other Minister in his Department since June 2007; and if he will make a statement.

Diana Johnson: The information is not available in the format requested and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Written Questions

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of parliamentary questions tabled for written answer by his Department on a named day in session 2008-09 received a substantive answer on that day.

Diana Johnson: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  Named day PQs  S ession 2008-09 
			   Tabled  Replied to on named day  Percentage 
			 December 2008 42 20 48 
			 January 2009 77 42 55 
			 February 2009 75 34 43 
			 March 2009 83 51 61 
			 April 2009 65 46 71 
			 May 2009 71 51 72 
			 June 2009 49 34 69 
			 July 2009 15 12 80 
			 August 2009 n/a n/a n/a 
			 September 2009 38 31 82 
			 October 2009 69 46 67 
			 November 2009 82 46 56 
			 December 2009 47 34 72 
		
	
	Central guidance on answering parliamentary questions is now available in the Guide to Parliamentary Work, at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/parliamentary-clerk-guide.aspx
	In the response to the Procedure Committee Report on written parliamentary questions, the Government accepted the Committee's recommendation that Departments be required to provide the Procedure Committee with sessional statistics in a standard format on the time taken to respond to written parliamentary questions, accompanied by an explanatory memorandum setting out any factors affecting their performance. This will be taken forward as soon as possible.

Future Jobs Fund

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many school leavers have participated in programmes under the Future Jobs Fund  (a) nationally and  (b) in Milton Keynes since its inception.

Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.
	The Future Jobs Fund started in July 2009 and the youth element is aimed at 18 to 24-year-olds who have been unemployed for six months; therefore we would not expect last year's school leavers to participate in the scheme yet.

GCSE

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of students  (a) with special educational needs and  (b) whose first language is not English gained (i) five GCSEs including English and mathematics at grades A* to C, (ii) five GCSEs at grades A* to G and (iii) at least one GCSE pass in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of students eligible for free school meals gained  (a) five GCSEs including English and mathematics at grades A* to C,  (b) five GCSEs at grades A* to G and  (c) at least one GCSE pass in each year since 2002.

Diana Johnson: holding answer 13 January 2010
	Information on pupil attainment linked to their characteristics was not recorded before 2002, therefore the requested information for 1997 to 2001 is not available. All the requested information has been published for 2006 to 2009, with some elements published for earlier years.
	The requested information for the years 2006 to 2009 is published on the departmental website at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000900/SFR34_2009FinalUpdated.xls
	The available information for 2005 is published on the departmental website at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000640/index.shtml
	The available information for 2004 is published on the departmental website at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000564/index.shtml
	The available information for the years 2002 and 2003 is published on the departmental website at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000448/index.shtml
	Measure (i), five GCSEs including English and mathematics at grades A* to C, is available for 2005-09.
	Measure (ii), five GCSEs at grades A* to G, is available for 2002, 2003 and 2006 to 2009.
	Measure (iii), at least one GCSE pass, is available for 2004-09.
	In addition, the number of pupils achieving no GCSE passes is available for 2002 and 2003.

Offenders

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many employees of his Department have been convicted of a criminal offence in the last five years.

Diana Johnson: The Department requires employees to notify their manager immediately they are arrested and charged with a criminal offence. If the employee is convicted, the Department will investigate and start a disciplinary process which may lead to dismissal. New employees must declare convictions during the recruitment process. Records back to 1995 are not held electronically nor in the format requested and a comprehensive search of paper based files, back to 1995 would result in disproportionate cost.

Young Offenders

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the statistical release of 26 November 2009 entitled Youth crime: young people aged 10 to 17 receiving their first reprimand, warning or conviction, in England, 2000-01 to 2008-09, how many of the offenders referred to in table one were aged  (a) 10 to 12,  (b) 13 to 15 and  (c) 16 to 17 years old.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 20 January 2010
	The number of young people, aged  (a) 10 to 12,  (b) 13 to 15 and  (c) 16 to 17, receiving their first reprimand, warning or conviction processed by English or Welsh police forces can be found in the following tables:
	
		
			  Number of young people aged 10 to 17 receiving their first reprimand, warning or conviction, processed by English or Welsh police forces (and percentage of year total ) 
			   Financial year 
			   2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05 
			   No.  %  No.  %  No.  %  No.  %  No.  % 
			  (a) 10 to 12-year-old at time of offence 13,652 15 13,136 15 11,492 14 11,936 14 13,048 14 
			  (b) 13 to 15-year-old at time of offence 45,393 51 44,672 50 40,830 49 44,139 50 49,067 51 
			  (c) 16 to 17-year-old at time of offence 30,808 34 31,108 35 30,957 37 32,164 36 33,640 35 
			 Total (10 to 17-year-old at time of offence) 89,853 100 88,916 100 83,279 100 88,239 100 95,755 100 
		
	
	
		
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			   No.  %  No.  %  No.  %  No.  % 
			  (a) 10 to 12-year-old at time of offence 14,769 14 15,686 14 13,780 14 10,152 13 
			  (b) 13 to 15-year-old at time of offence 56,233 52 57,695 52 51,307 51 39,237 50 
			  (c) 16 to 17-year-old at time of offence 36,273 34 36,905 33 35,123 35 29,871 38 
			 Total (10 to 17-year-old at time of offence) 107,275 100 110,286 100 100,210 100 79,260 100 
		
	
	An equivalent breakdown by age bands is not available for offenders living in England due to the method used to allocate records where insufficient address data are available.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Departmental Location

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to the answer of 17 June 2009,  Official Report, House of Lords, column 210WA, in respect of which countries co-location with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been explored but rejected; and for what reasons co-location was rejected in each case.

Douglas Alexander: Since April 2007, the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have explored options to co-locate in Pretoria, Abuja, Bridgetown and Pristina and decided not to proceed because the proposed moves would not provide value for money. The options for these posts are kept under review, along with those for all other posts which are currently not co-located.

Departmental Public Consultation

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether any citizen juries or summits have been hosted by his Department since October 2008.

Michael Foster: No citizen juries or summits have been hosted by the Department for International Development (DFID) since October 2008.

Diplomatic Services: Procurement

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development in which countries his Department share procurement arrangements with the British Embassy, Consulate or High Commission.

Douglas Alexander: The Department of International Development (DFID) shares some aspects of procurement arrangements overseas with the Foreign Office, collaborating as opportunities arise, most frequently in the provision of estate management and security, travel management and healthcare support. We are pursuing opportunities to extend shared procurement arrangements.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 5 January 2010,  Official Report, column 201W, on the Middle East: armed conflict, what steps are being taken to remove white phosphorus contamination from rubble in Gaza; how many sites have been found to be contaminated; what timetable is envisaged for decontamination; and what assessment has been made of the risk to public health arising from such contamination.

Michael Foster: Following the end of the conflict the UN Mine Action Team (UNMAT) carried out an unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance operation and any white phosphorus (WP) rounds that were found, whether leaking or intact, were removed and neutralised. During this initial phase UNMAT assisted in the destruction of over 100 WP rounds. UNMAT has also removed and neutralized 53 WP rounds found in further clearance operations carried out since July 2009.
	Currently, the UN does not know of any contaminated sites where WP remains. However, there may be a residual risk in buildings and areas yet to be cleared. The removal of UXO and explosive remnants of war (ERW) from rubble and agricultural areas will continue until July 2010.
	The World Health Organisation (WHO) is unaware of any assessments of the risk to public health arising from WP contamination. However, UNMAT notes that exposed WP normally burns immediately, leaving remnants which pose a limited risk. Unexposed WP is safe until it is discovered or exposed to air. If WP is exposed during clearance, UNMAT is ready to deal with the situation immediately.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 5 January 2010,  Official Report, column 256W, on the Middle East: armed conflict, what arrangements his Department has made to meet the housing needs of the 60,000 families identified as being in need; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) supported the provision of basic shelter by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the immediate aftermath of the conflict. The Prime Minister, other UK Ministers and officials have repeatedly pressed the Government of Israel to permit the import of materials for the reconstruction of homes and other buildings.
	We are pleased that Israel has now allowed some glass to enter, but we will continue to advocate on this issue. We are also following with interest the UNRWA pilot project to build three houses using locally-manufactured compressed earth bricks, made from locally sourced materials such as sub-soil and aggregates.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on how many occasions a Minister from his Department has visited Gaza to assess the humanitarian situation since the conflict in Gaza began; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: The Secretary of State for International Development visited Gaza on 1 March 2009. He was accompanied by John Ging, the UN Relief and Works Agency's Director for Gaza. The Secretary of State saw for himself the level of destruction in Gaza and met with people affected by the conflict. He also discussed relief efforts with the representatives of UK Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
	Officials from the Department for International Development regularly visit Gaza to assess the humanitarian situation and keep in close contact with NGOs and-United Nations agencies. The Secretary of State receives regular briefings regarding the situation on the ground.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans the Government has to raise the restrictions placed by the government of Israel on access for humanitarian aid and reconstruction materials into Gaza at the UN Security Council; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: The UK consistently presses the Government of Israel to ease border restrictions and permit the flow of humanitarian aid and reconstruction material into Gaza. The Secretary of State for International Development raised this issue in a telephone call with the Israeli Defence Minister in December. The UK has also raised the need for improved access in several international fora, including the UN Security Council on 17 December 2009.
	We shall continue to take all appropriate opportunities to press for improved access into Gaza, full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1860 and full respect of international humanitarian law.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what Government policy is on the legality under international law of Israeli restrictions on the access into Gaza of humanitarian aid.

Michael Foster: Although there is no permanent physical Israeli presence in Gaza, given the significant control that Israel has over Gaza's borders, airspace and territorial waters, Israel retains obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention as an occupying power. These include an obligation to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza. We are extremely concerned by the continued restrictions on materials entering Gaza and will continue to press the Israeli Government to ease their restrictions.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks, of 5 January 2010,  Official Report, column 255W, on Palestinians: overseas aid, what assessment he has made of the extent to which the decision of the Government of Israel to link aid and reconstruction materials access to Hamas's refusal to renounce violence constitutes collective punishment of the people of Gaza; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: We have serious concerns about the Israeli restrictions on Gaza and the impact they have on the lives of Gazans. Although there is no permanent physical Israeli presence in Gaza, given the significant control that Israel has over Gaza's borders, airspace and territorial waters, Israel retains obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention as an occupying power. The Fourth Geneva Convention is clear that an occupying power must co-operate in allowing the passage and distribution of relief consignments. The restrictions currently imposed on the passage of relief supplies are, as we see it, a disproportionate response to the security threat.
	The extent of Israeli restrictions, and the threat to Israel from militants in Gaza, varies constantly. Rather than focus on whether the restrictions at any given time, amount to collective punishment, we have consistently pressed the Israeli Government to comply with their obligations under international law and allow passage of relief supplies. Although aid is entering Gaza, according to the United Nations this is insufficient to meet the needs of the Gazan people.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Change: International Cooperation

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials accompanied the UK ministerial delegation to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen; how many such officials used each  (a) mode and  (b) class of travel; and what the total cost was of such travel.

Joan Ruddock: Two Ministers and 54 officials comprised the official UK delegation to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. 45 delegates travelled by air, seven travelled by train, and four did not require any international travel.
	Both Ministers and the five DECC officials accompanying them travelled business class. The other 33 DECC delegates travelled on economy tickets. The total cost of DECC's travel was roughly £19,390.
	This does not include the Prime Minister and the delegation from No. 10.

Climatic Research Unit

Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has for his Department's funding of the climate programme at the Hadley Centre after 2010.

Joan Ruddock: Funding for climate change research undertaken by the Met Office Hadley Centre has been agreed through to March 2011, with contributions from DECC, DEFRA and DFID. Funding beyond April 2011 will be subject to the normal Government Spending Round processes.

Departmental Food

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the quantity of food waste generated by his Department in each year for which figures are available.

Joan Ruddock: DECC endeavours to send as much of its food waste as possible for environmentally-friendly treatment (generally composting) rather than to landfill. The total amount of food waste sent for treatment in this way, included as part of the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate reporting process is 6.88 tonnes for January 2009 to December 2009.
	Some additional food waste, which has not been quantified, may have entered the residual waste stream and been sent to landfill.

Departmental Internet

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2010,  Official Report, columns 1045-8W, on departmental internet, how many staff worked on each listed website  (a) in each of the last three years and  (b) on the latest date for which figures are available.

Joan Ruddock: holding answer 19 January 2010
	The DECC corporate site:
	www.decc.gov.uk
	was launched on 23 February 2009. 1.5 full-time equivalent members of staff worked on the website at the time of launch in 2008-09. 3.5 members of staff are working on the website as of 19 January 2010.
	The majority of other sites run by the Department are resourced entirely by outside agencies and require/have required no departmental staff involvement.
	Those sites that do require/have required staff involvement are as follows:
	
		
			   2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009 to date 
			 http://actonco2.direct.gov.uk/actonco2/home.html 0 0 2 FT staff 2 FT staff 
			 www.og.decc.gov.uk (1)- (1)- (1)- (1)- 
			 https://www.og.decc.gov.uk/EIP/pages/help.htm (1)- (1)- (1)- (1)- 
			 www.pilottaskforce.co.uk (1)- (1)- (1)- (1)- 
			 www.actoncopenhagen.gov.uk 0 0 0 1 FT May 2009 to present; and 1 FT from August to December 2009 
			 www.corwm.org.uk 1 FT 1 FT 1 FT 1 FT 
			 https://www.energynpsconsultation.decc.gov.uk/ 0 0 0 2 FT 
			 (1) One FT member of staff working across the three sites https://www.og.decc.gov.uk/EIP/pages/help.htm was launched in 2008-09.

Exhaust Emissions: Aviation

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) undertaken on claims by airlines that they are able to prove reductions in greenhouse gas emissions arising from their activities.

Joan Ruddock: The Department has not commissioned or undertaken research on any claims that may have been made by airlines that they are able to prove reductions in greenhouse gas emissions arising from their activities. DECC does, however, monitor UK aviation emissions through its UK greenhouse gas inventory and to some extent can use this to assess the impact of activities in the airline industry.
	The Government encourage airlines to set environmental targets and to monitor their progress against them. However, we have no current plans to review the differing methodologies they apply in carrying out this work.

Fuel Poverty: Preston

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households in Preston have received assistance under the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme since the inception of the scheme.

David Kidney: The following table shows how many households in Preston have received assistance under the Warm Front Scheme (the operating name of the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme in England) since its inception.
	
		
			  Preston 
			   Number 
			 2000-01 607 
			 2001-02 985 
			 2002-03 1,191 
			 2003-04 1,317 
			 2004-05 845 
			 2005-06 562 
			 2005-06 423 
			 2006-07 1,248 
			 2007-08 1,272 
			 2008-09 865 
			 2009-10(1) 772 
			 Total 10,087 
			 (1) Up to 31 December 2009

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he plans to establish a compensation scheme for surface workers as part of the British Coal Respiratory Disease Scheme; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: No.
	Miners with surface only exposure to dust were not covered by the 1998 High Court Respiratory Disease Judgment and not included under the Claims Handling Agreement (CHA). The Department's position has been that the levels of respirable dust (rather than visible dust) in surface jobs was not sufficient to cause lung disease. Despite the Department's position on these cases, I recognise there has been a long-standing campaign to seek compensation for surface workers. In an attempt to settle this issue, four test cases were to be brought before the court for determination in November 2009.
	I can now report that at a pre-trial court hearing on 9 October 2009, the solicitors acting for the four selected claimants conceded the litigation on all four cases and costs were awarded to the Department. When advising the court of the position, the claimants' counsel said
	in the light of the expert evidence in each case, the court was likely to make findings in relation to dust exposure that would make it difficult for any of these four claimants to establish any significant injury.
	On this basis, no case for compensation has been established in respect of surface workers with surface only exposure.
	However, due to the Department's diligence, I can report that c.650 claims previously identified as Coal Preparation Plant only claims by their solicitors were found to be able to be compensated as mixed workers under the CHA and these are now being processed. Additionally, another c.200 claims are now having their underground only employment assessed and settled.
	Under a Court Order agreed in December 2009, and not opposed by the claimant's solicitors, all remaining surface only claims are now in the strike out process for mid February 2010.

Natural Gas: Storage

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he plans to increase the capacity of the UK's strategic gas reserve in respect of  (a) short-term and  (b) long-term strategic storage; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: The provision of gas storage capacity is a commercial matter; Great Britain does not have a designated strategic gas reserve. National Grid's 'Gas Transportation Ten Year Statement 2009', published in December, reports 22 commercial gas storage projects at various stages of development. If these all proceed to commissioning, they could increase our gas storage capacity, to serve a range of short-term and long-term needs, by some 400 per cent. by around 2020. The Government are helping these projects to go forward, through reforms to the onshore and offshore consents regimes under the Planning and Energy Acts 2008; and by clarifying, alongside Budget 2009, that cushion gas, required by gas storage facilities, is eligible for tax relief.

Nuclear Power Stations

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer to Baroness Neville-Jones of 11 January 2010,  Official Report, House of Lords, column WA128, what the outcome was of the inquiry into the removal of protectively marked information from a nuclear licensed site in 2006.

David Kidney: A recommendation was made to provide a programme of training and education for the individual responsible for the inadvertent disclosure, and this training duly took place.

Nuclear Power Stations

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change by what process he plans to take into account submissions made to his Department's consultations on  (a) the National Nuclear Policy Statement and  (b) the regulatory justification of new nuclear power stations; and when he expects to respond to each consultation.

David Kidney: The consultation on the Nuclear and other energy National Policy Statements will close on 22 February 2010. The Government will carefully consider the responses made to the consultation, along with the output of the Parliamentary Scrutiny of the National Policy Statements, and intend to publish a revised National Policy Statement when the process is complete.
	On Regulatory Justification, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has published his proposed decisions for consultation. He will consider all responses received before making his final decisions and expects to respond to the consultation at the end of this process.

Warm Front Scheme

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the average waiting time for the installation of  (a) heating and  (b) insulation measures under the Warm Front scheme in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the North East and (iv) the UK in each year since the inception of that scheme.

David Kidney: The following table details average timescales in working days for  (a) heating and  (b) insulation measures delivered by Warm Front in England since the beginning of the current phase of the scheme in 2005, and for Jarrow, South Tyneside and North East England in the current year to date.
	Further details on timescales for (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the North East will be placed in the House of Commons Library when available.
	
		
			  Average  d ays 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10( 1) 
			   Heating  Insulation  Heating  Insulation  Heating  Insulation  Heating  Insulation  Heating  Insulation 
			 Jarrow - - - - - - - - 32.2 17.1 
			 South Tyneside - - - - - - - - 36.3 16.1 
			 North East England - - - - - - - - 36.2 13.6 
			 England 67.7 30.9 81.7 33.2 65.8 27.6 65.1 34.0 36.1 14.8 
			 (1) To 31 December 2009

Warm Front Scheme

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of back boilers which have been replaced under the Warm Front scheme in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) the UK in each year since its inception.

David Kidney: The following table shows the total number of boilers replaced by the Warm Front Scheme in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) England in each year since the current phase of the Scheme began in 2005, but does not differentiate back boilers and other types of boiler replaced under Warm Front. Details on types of boiler being replaced are not recorded.
	
		
			  Boilers Installed  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10( 1)  Total 
			 Jarrow 31 104 248 257 160 800 
			 South Tyneside 80 295 493 550 291 1709 
			 North East England 1175 4745 7379 8448 6152 27899 
			 England 14,136 53,436 75,600 80,458 66,212 289,842 
			 (1) Up to 3 December 2009

Warm Front Scheme

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much has been provided in Warm Front grants in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) the UK in each year since their inception.

David Kidney: The following table shows the value of Warm Front funding spent in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) England in each year since the beginning of the current phase of the Scheme in 2005.
	
		
			  £ 
			  Measures Spend  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10  Total 
			 Jarrow 194,674.62 335,418.07 722,418.63 791,523.15 518,328.38 2,562,362.85 
			 South Tyneside 439,733.01 917,753.50 1,431,320.02 1,659,580.58 307,773.59 4,756,160.71 
			 North East England 8,013,910.25 17,304,135.33 24,211,961.07 27,050,477.38 17,056,295.05 93,636,779.09 
			 England 117,586,794.08 261,354,000.01 336,001,000.06 362,115,000.16 319,114,710.69 1,396,171,505.00 
			  Note:  Figures above include the cost of all measures provided through Warm Front, including those subsequently funded through interaction with other programmes (for example with utilities and CERT).

Warm Front Scheme: Derbyshire

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households in  (a) Chesterfield and  (b) Derbyshire have received grants under the Warm Front Scheme in each year since the inception of the scheme.

David Kidney: The following table shows the number of households which have received grants under the Warm Front Scheme in  (a) Chesterfield and  (b) Derbyshire each year since the beginning of the current phase of the Scheme in 2005. Figures prior to 2005 are unavailable. The current Scheme manager did not manage the Scheme in these areas at this time, as such, the data retained are not sufficient to provide a consolidated response.
	
		
			   Chesterfield  Derbyshire 
			 2005-06 187 2,847 
			 2006-07 615 6,183 
			 2007-08 754 6,481 
			 2008-09 498 5,341 
			 2009-10(1) 471 4,117 
			 Total 2,525 19,585 
			 (1) Up to 31 December 2009.

Warm Front Scheme: Disabled

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change for what reasons he decided that households with no eligible adults but with children in receipt of disability living allowance would not be eligible for assistance under the Warm Front scheme.

David Kidney: To be eligible for the Scheme the applicant or their spouse must be a homeowner or tenant in the private sector and in receipt of a qualifying disability or income related benefit.
	The current criteria have been selected because they offer a practical way of assessing the likelihood of a household being at risk of fuel poverty. Although this method is by no means perfect, other methods considered were judged to be either less accurate at reaching target vulnerable groups or prohibitively expensive to administer.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Affordable Housing: Lewes

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has to increase the number of dwellings available for low-cost home ownership in Lewes constituency.

John Healey: Increasing affordable housing is a priority for Government and we have substantially increased funding for this through The National Affordable Housing Programme, delivered through the Homes and Communities Agency. Most recently a substantial part of the extra £1.5 billion Housing Pledge set out in June 2009 is for additional affordable housing.
	It is for local authorities and their partners to seek funding for suitable good value-for money-schemes. Registered social landlords working in Lewes have been successful in bids for almost £1.8 million in the current three year period to build 60 low-cost home ownership properties. This is in addition to almost £6 million provided to build new affordable homes for rent.

Air Conditioning

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the level of compliance with the requirement for all air conditioning systems over 250kW to be inspected under the terms of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive by 4 January 2009; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the level of compliance in Government buildings with the requirement under the terms of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive for air conditioning systems over 250kW to be inspected by 4 January 2009; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: This information is not held centrally.

Air Conditioning

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to require all mandatory air conditioning systems reports to be logged on a central database; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: We intend to consult in due course on whether to make it mandatory to lodge air conditioning reports on the National Register.

Community Relations

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what datasets are being collected under his Departmental Strategic Objective Indicator 4.4, on the extent to which domestic communities, particularly Muslim communities, reject and condemn violent extremism; what the methodology is for collecting data for this indicator; what targets have been set for it; and what the baseline is.

Shahid Malik: The Citizenship Survey already provides data to measure across our DSO 4. We are continuing to explore ways to measure DSO 4.4 in a manner which ensures a robust indicator for which data quality standards are met. No targets or baselines have been set as yet for DSO 4.4.

Community Relations: Finance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to page 13 of his Department's Resource Accounts 2008-09, HC 449, whether any delays in awarding grants under new Prevent grant programmes came from  (a) potential applicants not having satisfied appropriate checks and  (b) the time taken to perform appropriate checks; and which body undertook the checks on grant recipients.

Shahid Malik: Organisations that apply to the Community Leadership Fund (CLF) for funding are subject to an assessment process, which includes evaluation of proposals against published criteria and the suitability of organisations to deliver their proposals through financial and background checks. Agreement to fund organisations is also subject to ministerial approval.
	Delays did not arise from potential applicants not having satisfied appropriate checks, but the assessment process took longer than expected due to the volume of applications received-approximately three months, from closing date to obtaining ministerial approval. This resulted in some payments not being made to organisations before the end of the financial year.

Departmental Consultants

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has paid PA Consulting for services relating to the FiReControl project; and whether a proportion of such payments included bonus payments for meeting targets.

Shahid Malik: Between April 2004 and December 2009 we have paid PA Consulting £37 million for consultancy services in relation to FiReControl. PA Consultancy invoice us for the number of days their consultants work on the project in line with the contract terms and conditions. No bonus payments are made by the Department.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to his Department's press release of 6 January 2010, on new faith advisers, what consideration he gave to appointing a representative of the Roman Catholic Church as an adviser.

Shahid Malik: The new panel of expert advisers on faith is not a representative body and there is therefore no requirement for it to include representatives of any denomination or faith. The Faith Communities Consultative Council which I jointly chair continues to be the main representative forum for consultation between Government and faith communities. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales is represented on the Council.

Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department has provided guidance to local authorities on the use of stop notice powers in respect of  (a) illegal dumping of material from an unauthorised traveller site and  (b) the stationing of a caravan which is used as a residence.

Shahid Malik: Local authorities have powers under the 'Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005' that enables them to remove fly-tipped waste and upon conviction to recover costs from those who deposited the waste, or allowed it to be illegally dumped.
	The Government have published guidance setting out the powers available to local authorities when tackling unauthorised developments. The 'Guide to Effective Use of Enforcement Powers-Part 2: Unauthorised Development of Caravan Sites' is available on the Department's website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/unauthorisedsites

Empty Property: Chelmsford

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of empty  (a) residential and  (b) commercial properties in (i) West Chelmsford constituency and (ii) Chelmsford local authority area in the last five years for which figures are available.

Barbara Follett: The number of empty residential properties in the Chelmsford local authority area in 2005 to 2009 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2005 1,489 
			 2006 1,551 
			 2007 1,703 
			 2008 1,706 
			 2009 1,674 
		
	
	The data are both short-term and long-term empty dwellings as reported annually by all billing authorities in England in October of the year. Data are not available at a constituency level.
	No estimates of empty non-domestic properties have been published.

Fabian Society

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library a copy of the speech given by the Minister for Housing and Planning to the Fabian Society on 9 December 2009.

John Healey: A copy of my speech is available on the Fabian Society website at:
	http://www.fabian-society.org.uk/events/speeches/healey-speech-housing-after-the-crunch

Fire Prevention: Construction

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 8 December 2009,  Official Report, column 302W, on fires, if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of the meetings of  (a) 13 October,  (b) 1 December and  (c) 3 December 2009.

Shahid Malik: The minutes of the joint meeting with Business and Community Safety Forum and the Practitioners' Forum on 13 October 2009 will be placed in the Library as soon as they have been formally agreed by the respective forums.
	Minutes were not taken for either the private meeting between myself and the Chief Fire Officers Association Presidential Team on 1 December 2009, or for the meeting which my officials facilitated with representatives from the fire service, local authority building control bodies, Association of Consultant Approved Inspectors and the Health and Safety Executive on 3 December 2009.

Fire Services

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the  (a) original timetable was and  (b) the latest timetable is for the (i) Firelink, (ii) FireBuy Integrated Clothing and (iii) FiREControl project.

Shahid Malik: The ministerial announcement of the Firelink project was made in May 2002 with completion scheduled December 2007. Subsequently the contract was awarded in March 2006 and roll-out to fire service vehicles commenced in November 2008, with completion revised to March 2010.
	The original timetable of the Integrated Clothing Project was for FireBuy to let the contract by December 2006. The purchase only part of the contract was signed in November 2007 and the fully managed service option was signed in May 2008.
	The original go-live timetable for the FiReControl project was to complete in December 2007 in line with the Firelink project. The current estimated go-live date is May 2011.

Fire Services

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library a copy of the intervention protocol prepared by the Secretary of State under section 23 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004.

Shahid Malik: On 19 February 2003 Government and the Local Government Association signed a protocol: 'Central Government Engagement and Intervention in Poorly Performing Authorities'. Pages 10 and 11 of the current Fire and Rescue Services National Framework says this protocol meets the requirement of section 23 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. I have arranged for a copy of the 2003 protocol to be placed in the Library.

Fire Services

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment has been made of the effects on the number of fire  (a) stations and  (b) appliances at each location of the repeal of section 19 (4) of the Fire Services Act 1947, requiring a fire authority to obtain the prior consent of the Secretary of State for the closure of a fire station and reductions in the number of fire appliances.

Shahid Malik: The repeal of Section 19 of the Fire Services Act 1947 was an essential element of the move to integrated risk management planning (IRMP), under which local fire and rescue authorities (FRAs) and local communities are able to make appropriate decisions at the local level.
	The numbers of fire  (a) stations and  (b) appliances are provided to the Department in annual data returns by Fire and Rescue Services in England. Figures since 2003-04 are collected and are shown in the following table.
	No assessment has been made by this Department of the direct effects on the number of fire stations and fire appliances of the repeal of section 19(4) of the 1947 Act, although the Audit Commission takes account of individual FRAs' IRMP-under which decisions on the number and location of stations and appliances are made-in drawing up annual assessments as part of the comprehensive area assessment.
	
		
			  Numbers of fire stations and fire appliances, England 
			2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Number of fire stations(1)  1,443 1,442 1,444 1,437 1,439 1,435 
			 Total appliances  3,279 3,274 3,308 3,358 3,475 3,325 
			  Pumps 2,120 2,110 2,091 2,086 2,075 2,062 
			 Front-line fleet Other appliances(2) 776 769 825 812 859 823 
			  Pumps 333 351 356 404 475 387 
			 Reserve fleet Other appliances(2) 50 44 36 56 66 53 
			 (1.) Whole time and retained. (2) Includes aerials and special appliances.  Source: Annual Returns to Communities and Local Government

Fire Services: Finance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps are being taken to control the FiReControl project budget.

Shahid Malik: The Department works to deliver the benefits of FiReControl, at least cost to the taxpayer.
	We have professional finance and contractual expertise to control the budget and manage contracts with suppliers. FiReControl follows the Department's finance and procurement processes. We follow best practice set out by the Office of Government Commerce, who rigorously review the project on a regular basis.

Fire Services: Finance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the  (a) original and  (b) most recent cost estimate is for the (i) Firelink, (ii) Firebuy Integrated Clothing and (iii) FiREControl project.

Shahid Malik: The information is as follows:
	 (i) On a comparable basis the Firelink cost estimates are:
	Original contract award 29 March 2006: £353 million.
	Current estimate, August 2009: £313 million.
	 (ii) There is no recent separate cost estimate for the Firebuy Integrated Clothing Project. This is one of a number of contracts established within the fire and rescue service procurement remit of Firebuy.
	 (iii) For the FiReControl project, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Copeland (Mr. Reed) on 2 November 2009,  Official Report, column 764W.

Fire Services: Finance

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his latest estimate is of the cost to the public purse of the FiReControl project since its inception.

Shahid Malik: The current estimated overall cost of implementation of the FiReControl project is £420 million.

Fire Services: Pay

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what  (a) salary and  (b) other remuneration is paid to each chief executive of the new regional fire control companies.

Shahid Malik: The responsibility for salary and other remuneration is a matter for the Local Authority Control Company which employs the chief executives.

Fire Services: Pay

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 10 December 2009,  Official Report, column 586W, on Fire Services: Finance, what performance targets officials on the FiReControl project met in respect of which bonuses to justify the bonuses; and which performance targets are used to assess the award of bonuses to officials working on the project.

Shahid Malik: These payments have been made in line with the Department's pay and reward policy.

Fire Services: Recruitment

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 7 July 2009,  Official Report, column 706W, on fire services: equality, whether any Fire and Rescue Services have targets to increase recruitment of Travellers.

Shahid Malik: Fire and rescue services have not been set any targets for the recruitment of Travellers.
	The 'Fire and Rescue Service Equality and Diversity Strategy' published in May 2008 made it clear that all services in England are expected to promote equality and to seek to improve the diversity within their work force in order to better reflect the communities they serve.

Floods: Thames Gateway

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his latest assessment is of the level of flood risk in the Thames Gateway development area; and what recent planning guidance his Department has provided on new-build development in areas of the Thames Gateway at risk of flooding.

Shahid Malik: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 12 January 2010,  Official Report, columns 887-88W.

Green Belt: Thames Gateway

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his policy is on protecting the green belt within the Thames Gateway; and if he will make a statement.

Shahid Malik: The Government have a continuing commitment to the protection of green belt and its crucial characteristics of openness and permanence. Among the policies set out in PPG2 (Planning Policy Guidance Note 2, 'Green Belts') to guide decision-makers is a presumption against allowing inappropriate development on green belt land. These policies are applied as vigorously in the Thames Gateway as they are everywhere else.
	Only in exceptional circumstances may green belt boundaries be altered. Any proposal for significant change in green belt area has to be made during the preparation of regional strategy. Any essential adjustment of the boundary of a green belt is for the local planning authority to propose as part of the local plan process. The Secretary of State monitors emerging regional strategies and local plans to ensure they are consistent with national policy. Government Offices make representations to the independent examinations of draft RSSs and LDFs if the approach proposed is not consistent with PPG2. There are no plans to change the policy set out in PPG2.

Home Information Packs

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Clwyd West of 8 December 2009,  Official Report, column 297W, on home information packs, when the 2010 report on the effectiveness of the home information packs programme will be published; by whom the report is being produced; using what methodology; and at what cost.

John Healey: We intend to evaluate the effectiveness of HIPs by updating 'The HIP Baseline Research Report', published in January 2007. A copy of the report is available at
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/hipbaselineresearch
	We are currently in the process of commissioning the study through the established contract tender process, so the timing and cost have yet to be finalised. I expect the interim results could be available in summer 2010.

Homes and Communities Agency: Public Relations

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what public relations firms are on the Homes and Communities Agency's (HCA) Public Relations Panel; and whether the HCA uses public relation contractors listed in framework agreements with the Central Office of Information.

John Healey: The HCA Public Relations panel is no longer in place. All contracts ended in December 2009, there are no current contracts in place.

Local Government Finance

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what occasions his Department has used budget-capping powers in respect of local authorities in the last 10 years; and for what reasons in each case.

Barbara Follett: Capping action has been taken against 34 authorities on five occasions over the last 10 years. In each case, action was taken because the authorities exceeded the capping principles determined by the Secretary of State.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Edward Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many people resident in Crewe and Nantwich constituency have received funding from the Mortgage Rescue Scheme;
	(2)  how many people resident in Crewe and Nantwich constituency have received funding from the Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme.

John Healey: In the current economic conditions, we have acted rapidly to put in place help and support for households struggling with their mortgage at every stage, and launched a campaign to ensure households have clear information about the help available. Over the last year, over 330,000 homeowners have received help and advice with their mortgage, and targeted safety net schemes are available for those in most need. Repossessions, arrears and voluntary repossessions are currently running at around half the rates at which they peaked in the early 1990s.
	As part of the monitoring arrangements for the Mortgage Rescue Scheme, headline data for January-September 2009, provided by local authorities and broken down by Government Office Region, are available on the Department's website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/mortgagerescuestatistics
	Figures reported by local authorities are provided in a table, which has been placed in the Library. Data are not collected at constituency level. Data for the October-December period will be published on 11 February 2010.
	The Homeowners Mortgage Support scheme was launched in April 2009. Management information on Homeowners Mortgage Support and equivalent forbearance schemes was released by the Department on 9 December 2009. Figures can be accessed using the following link:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1408110
	Data are not collected at constituency level.

Multiple Occupation: Licensing

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 29 October 2009,  Official Report, column 472W, on multiple occupation: licensing, for what reasons the report has not yet been published; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Austin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 12 January 2010,  Official Report, column 894W.

Natural Resources: West Midlands

William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he has taken steps to assess the merits of proposals by public authorities in the West Midlands to reduce levels of aggregate extractions.

Ian Austin: No. Such assessments will take place as part of the preparation of the Regional Strategy for the West Midlands, and in examining relevant development plan documents by each minerals planning authority.

Non-domestic Rates: Greater London

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government of 8 December 2009 to the Sixth Delegated Legislation Committee, on the Business Rate Supplements (Rateable Value Condition) (England) Regulations 2009,  Official Report, column 8, how many and what proportion of business properties in London will be exempt from the supplementary business rate following the 2010 rates revaluation; and how much revenue he estimates the supplementary rate will raise in 2010-11.

Barbara Follett: 231,040 hereditaments, which is 82 per cent. of all hereditaments in London, are assessed with a rateable value of £50,000 or less. These data are consistent with the statistical release titled: Non-domestic rateable values: 2010 Local Rating Lists-England and Wales, published on 18 December 2009. A copy of this statistical release is available at the following link:
	http://www.voa.gov.uk/publications/statistical_releases/VOA_Statistics_Release_Final.pdf
	The minimum threshold must be £50,000, although the Mayor of London has the discretion to set a higher threshold exempting additional hereditaments. Final decisions on the level of the supplement and the extent of further exemptions are for the Mayor of London, therefore we cannot estimate the amount of revenue that would be raised.

Planning Act 2008

Paul Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has to issue guidance to local authorities on the preparation of local impact reports under Section 60 of the Planning Act 2008.

Ian Austin: It is for local authorities to decide what is relevant for inclusion in a local impact report and Government do not intend to publish guidance on what they should contain. The Infrastructure Planning Commission will be providing further advice to local authorities as to how they should be presented.

Private Rented Housing: Registration

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what timetable he has set for bringing forward legislation on the registration of private sector landlords; and which public body would be responsible for the register under those proposals.

Ian Austin: We consulted over the summer on our response to the independent review of the private rented sector carried out by Julie Rugg and David Rhodes of the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York. This included proposals for a national register of private landlords. We have been considering the consultation responses received and plan to publish the results shortly.

Social Rented Housing: Home Working

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance the  (a) Housing Corporation,  (b) Tenant Services Authority and  (c) Homes and Communities Agency has provided to social landlords on home working by tenants.

Ian Austin: In its Neighbourhood and Community Strategy of October 2006, the Housing Corporation emphasised the value of all housing associations promoting employment opportunities-including residents working from their homes.
	The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) was formed on 1 December 2008, taking over the investment and regeneration responsibilities of the Housing Corporation and English Partnerships. Provision for home-working is included in the HCA's guidance for local authorities and other partners on the development of Local Investment Plans (Single Conversation: Further Information-Local Investment Plan). This guidance is available via the HCA's website:
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/singleconversation.htm
	Urban design guidance published by the Housing Corporation and English Partnerships, and now maintained by the HCA, also includes material on live-work and home-working. This guidance is available online:
	http://www.urbandesigncompendium.co.uk/

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Africa: Travel Information

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent travel advice he has issued in respect of the security of British citizens to Africa; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) issues regularly-reviewed Travel Advice notices for 56 countries in Africa. The advice includes information on threats to personal safety arising from political unrest, conflicts, terrorist activities, anti-British demonstrations, lawlessness, violence, natural disasters, epidemics, and aircraft and shipping safety. FCO Travel Advice is reviewed for every country every month and following any significant incident. It is revised and reissued at least every three months. In a developing crisis FCO Travel Advice may be updated several times a day. The FCO website also contains important general information on safety abroad, under the heading 'Know Before You Go' and information on World Cup 2010 can be found there. There is also a link from the FCO Travel Advice for South Africa to that page. FCO Travel Advice is based on objective assessments of the risks to British nationals and is intended to give British nationals the information they need to make their own decisions about travelling to a particular country.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: NATO Enlargement

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects Bosnia-Herzegovina to be ready to be invited to participate in the NATO Membership Action Plan; and what his policy is on such membership.

David Miliband: The UK fully supports Bosnia and Herzegovina's aspiration to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and continues to provide active support to help achieve that aim. In December NATO Foreign Ministers agreed Bosnia and Herzegovina would join the Membership Action Plan (MAP) once it has achieved the necessary progress on reform. The next formal review of Bosnia and Herzegovina's progress will be in spring this year.
	MAP is an important tool in assisting countries to prepare for NATO membership. For a country to fully benefit from this tool it must have robust and functional political structures in place to take forward the comprehensive process and implement the wide spectrum of democratic and defence reforms required for membership.

Colombia: Human Rights

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will hold discussions with the Colombian government to seek to ensure the safety of human rights activists and lawyers in Colombia.

Chris Bryant: We regularly raise serious concerns over human rights with senior Colombian Ministers. I visited Colombia in October 2009, and during a meeting with President Uribe, urged him to do more to improve the human rights situation. I also issued a joint statement with Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez, declaring that:
	the defence of human rights is necessary and legitimate for democracy, in a country like Colombia which is proud of being fully open and ready for international scrutiny on this subject.
	I also met the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs specifically to discuss human rights earlier this week.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary also raised human rights concerns during a meeting with Minister Bermudez in December 2009.

Cuba: Foreign Relations

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aims and objectives he has set for UK foreign policy in respect of Cuba.

Chris Bryant: The UK's foreign policy towards Cuba is in line with the EU Common Position, which we agreed in 1996 and review annually each June at the European Council. Through engagement with both the Cuban Government and Cuban civil society, this policy aims to support the principles of pluralistic democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and an improvement of the living standards of the Cuban people. Specifically we hope to see concrete improvements in human rights, such as the release of all political prisoners, improved economic freedoms for all Cuban citizens and an end to restrictions on freedom of expression and independent trade unions. We work closely with our EU partners to further develop engagement with Cuba, including through the EU-Cuba political dialogue, and continue to look for opportunities to strengthen bilateral relations. We already co-operate at a working level on a number of issues such as climate change, child protection, counter-narcotics, and through scientific and cultural links.

Departmental Health and Safety

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of the health and safety advice issued to each new starter upon joining his Department.

Chris Bryant: holding answer 19 January 2010
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is currently updating its health and safety induction programme and documentation. This includes the publication of a new Health and Safety induction handbook. Upon completion the FCO will make arrangements for a copy to be placed in the Library.

Diplomatic Service

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on proposals to extend the provisions of the Vienna Convention to locally-engaged staff in countries where embassy employees have been subject to harassment by state authorities; and if his will make a statement.

David Miliband: The current provisions of Article 7 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961 (VCDR) allow sending states to appoint members of staff to its missions. There is a clear distinction in the way in which the VCDR treats staff appointed from the sending state and those recruited locally. This means that UK-based diplomatic agents, once appointed and accredited by the receiving state, are afforded immunities and privileges according to Article 31(1) of the VCDR, for example, immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving state and from its civil and administrative jurisdiction, subject to limited exceptions. However, under the current VCDR provisions the consent of the receiving state is required in order to appoint as diplomatic agents any locally engaged staff who are nationals or residents of that state and this consent can be withdrawn at any time under Article 8 of the VCDR.
	Our locally engaged staff are either nationals or residents of the receiving state. The fact that VCDR gives the receiving state the right to withdraw any immunity afforded to locally engaged staff at will means that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not consider that offering them immunity is a viable means of affording them any substantive additional protection, particularly in those countries where relations with the host government are sometimes strained.

Estonia: Embassies

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what environmental projects in Estonia received support from the British Embassy in that country in the last three years.

Chris Bryant: Our embassy in Tallinn has supported the following environmental projects in the last three years:
	 2006-07:
	Saving the World-Policy Paper on Climate Change and Estonia: support to the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute to commission and research a policy paper on Climate Change and how it effects Estonia for production in May/June 2007
	 2007-08:
	Climate Change in Estonia-Schools Information Campaign: funding the printing and distribution of Estonian language posters on climate change, for distribution to all secondary schools in Estonia to raise awareness of climate change issues.
	Distribution of the first translation of the Executive Summary of the Stern Review in Estonia to local policy makers to help influence the climate change debate in Estonia and provide a reference tool.
	A grant for Tartu university to design an Estonia-specific carbon footprint calculator to enable Estonians to calculate accurately their carbon footprint, which would then be used as an educational project with a selection of Estonian schools to enable students to calculate their footprints and ways in which they could reduce them.
	 2008:
	Environment Ministry attendance at a key Regional Climate Change Conference in Slovenia that focuses on the opportunities for economic growth.
	Visit of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director Maarin Ratnik to Wilton Park for a conference on Energy Security in the EU to offer Estonia an opportunity to discuss the impact of the European Council's conclusions on the EU's energy and climate package.
	Attendance of senior researcher from Tallinn Technical university and senior specialist from Ministry of Environment on Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) Study tour in UK to increase Estonia's expertise on CCS by sharing UK's best practice and to increase general public awareness of CCS issues in relation to climate change by publishing an article written by study tour participants in well circulated Estonian press.
	Visit to Estonia by Lord Giddens to give a speech at the 25th Anniversary event for the Chevening alumni event on The Politics of Climate Change, with the aim of capitalising on their attendance to continue (through Lord Giddens) to work on the Estonian mindset regarding climate change issues, notably Estonian reliance on (environmentally unfriendly) oil shale.
	Four Estonian delegates participated in a seminar on Climate Change: Everybody's Business, organised by our embassy in Riga, to increase awareness of climate change among Estonian businesses with a view to positive effects on business  2009:
	Sponsorship for Reet Aus (the only fashion designer in Estonia working exclusively with recycled goods) to attend Fashion Week in London with the aim of supporting a green clothing initiative by making them from sustainable ecologically sound procedures and raising awareness.
	Support for the Estonian portal Bioneer
	www.bioneer.ee
	towards publishing articles on climate change in 2009.

Iran: Nuclear Power

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his latest assessment is of the status of talks with  (a) the Government of Iran and  (b) his international counterparts on a fuel supply for the Tehran nuclear research reactor; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The UK is not directly involved in the talks on the International Atomic Energy Agency's proposal of October 2009. However, we support the proposal and are disappointed by Iran's failure to engage on it. This proposal could have begun to rebuild confidence in Iran's intentions by guaranteeing that part of Iran's fuel stock was used for legitimate purposes. I remain in close touch with my E3+3 and EU colleagues on all the issues associated with Iran's nuclear programme.

Iran: Nuclear Power

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on further  (a) UN and  (b) EU sanctions on Iran; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The Government continue to pursue the dual track strategy of engagement and pressure to address the issue of Iran's nuclear programme. Consideration of further appropriate UN measures designed to influence the regime's decision making on the nuclear file has now begun. With regard to EU sanctions, I refer the right hon. Member to the December European Council Declaration on Iran, where the EU clearly committed to considering further measures to accompany UN action.

Kashmir

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent in Kashmir in the last two years.

Ivan Lewis: In both Indian and Pakistan Administered Kashmir, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spent a total of £599,146 in financial year 2008-09 and expects to spend £1,011,012 in financial year 2009-10. This expenditure is on project activity funded from three sources-the Conflict Pool (which is a joint FCO, Department for International Development and Ministry of Defence fund), the Bilateral Programme Budget and the Counter Terrorism (Radicalisation) fund. The total expected spend on project activity across these three funds in Indian and Pakistan Administered Kashmir from 2008 to financial year 2009-10 will be £1,610,158.

National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security

Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department are responsible for  (a) the central coordination of activities and  (b) monitoring the effect of activities undertaken under the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.

Ivan Lewis: Central co-ordination of activities under the UK National Action Plan, jointly developed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Ministry of Defence and the Department for International Development, is within the FCO carried out by the conflict policy team. Two members of staff cover this work as part of their wider duties, with additional support provided by others as necessary.
	There is also a range of staff across the FCO and wider government network involved with the implementation and monitoring of the Women, Peace and Security agenda. The FCO does not hold information on the number of staff in its overseas network with this specific responsibility as part of their duties.

Nigeria: Politics and Government

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when HM Ambassador to Nigeria last met  (a) the President and  (b) the Vice President of that country.

Ivan Lewis: Our high commissioner to Nigeria last met President Yar'Adua on 5 November 2009, during the visit of my noble Friend Baroness Kinnock, the Minister of State for Africa, to Nigeria. He last met Vice President Goodluck Jonathan on 30 December 2009.

Nigeria: Politics and Government

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of UK relations with Nigeria, with particular reference to recent developments in that country.

Ivan Lewis: The UK continues to have a strong bilateral relationship with Nigeria as one of our key partners in Africa, and remains in frequent dialogue with the Government of Nigeria at all levels. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary spoke to his Nigerian counterpart on 8 January 2010,and Baroness Kinnock, the Minister of State for Africa co-hosted an event for the Nigerian diaspora in the UK on 20 January 2010.

Nigeria: Politics and Government

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has had recent discussions with the President or Vice President of Nigeria; what reports his Department has received on the state of health of the President; whether he is taking steps to encourage the Nigerian government and military to adhere to the Nigerian Constitution; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not had recent discussions with the President or Vice President of Nigeria. However he last spoke to Foreign Minister Maduekwe on 8 January 2010. During their conversation my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary expressed his concern for the health of President Yar'Adua, passed on his good wishes for the President's speedy recovery, and reiterated the UK's support for the Nigerian Government's determination to act in accordance with the Nigerian constitution.

Olympic Games: Canada

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials from his Department are planning to attend the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in February 2010; and what estimate he has made of the cost of such attendance.

Chris Bryant: Since 1999 the Government have published on an annual basis a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial travel overseas. From 2007-08 the list was extended to include all Ministers. The list also provides information on the number of officials who accompany Ministers. Copies are available in the Libraries of the House.
	Information for 2009-10 will be published as soon as the information is available. All travel by Ministers and civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code and Civil Service Management Code respectively.

Palestinians: International Assistance

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to raise the restrictions placed by the government of Israel on access for humanitarian aid and reconstruction materials into Gaza at the next discussion of the Middle East Quartet; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: We have consistently pressed the Government of Israel to ease border restrictions and permit the passage of humanitarian aid and essential reconstruction material into Gaza. The EU as a whole has made similar calls, including in the Conclusions of the December Foreign Affairs Council and the Quartet has called for Israel to allow for the unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza. We will continue to raise this issue at the highest levels.

Palestinians: Politics and Government

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions a Minister from his Department has visited Gaza to assess the  (a) human rights and  (b) political situation there since the conflict in Gaza began; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: I have been asked to reply.
	The Secretary of State for International Development visited Gaza on 1 March 2009. During his visit to the region he met with Israeli officials and discussed issues around access for humanitarian aid and reconstruction materials. Officials for the Department for International Development (DFID) visit Gaza frequently, and meet with other organisations and agencies who work in Gaza. The Secretary of State is kept up-to-date with all aspects of the situation in Gaza including human rights and the political environment.

Sudan: Peace Negotiations

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his most recent assessment is of progress on the objectives of the Sudanese Comprehensive Peace Agreement; and what plans he has for the Government's role as guarantor of that agreement.

Ivan Lewis: The UK is a guarantor of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and is committed to its full implementation. There has been some important recent progress with the passing of referenda legislation in December 2009. However much remains to be done, and we continue to press the parties to resolve key outstanding issues such as creating Referendum Commissions, and resolving outstanding disputes on wealth-sharing and the census. We also call on all parties to put in place the necessary conditions for credible elections, a key CPA benchmark.
	My noble Friend Baroness Kinnock was in Sudan 11 to 13 January 2010 to reiterate messages on election preparation and post-2011 planning. We are also supporting work by Chatham House to encourage dialogue between the parties on important post-referendum issues. The UK announced a further £54 million to support Sudan, bringing to £200 million our annual commitment to humanitarian aid, development and peacekeeping in Sudan.

Turkey: Foreign Relations

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aims and objectives he has set for UK foreign policy in respect of Turkey.

Chris Bryant: The UK has four key objectives as regards to Turkey. Firstly, to support Turkey's EU accession process, which strongly benefits both the EU and Turkey. Secondly, we support internal reform in Turkey to enhance the democratic process to protect human rights especially those of minorities. Thirdly, to engage with Turkey on regional issues, which include Cyprus, Afghanistan, the middle east peace process, Iran, and Iraq. Fourthly, we aim to co-operate on key international issues, such as climate change and energy security.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Building Regulations: Advertising

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much expenditure under each budgetary heading his Department has incurred on advertising competent person schemes in each year since 2002.

Ian Austin: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department has incurred expenditure of £48,000 since 2002 on publishing, including reprints, a leaflet, Building work, replacements and repairs to your home, which was published specifically to publicise competent person schemes. Information about the schemes is also available on the Department's website and in other guidance publications about the Building Regulations.

Business

David Hamilton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that companies entering liquidation are not able to reform under a different name in order to avoid liabilities.

Ian Lucas: There is nothing in law to prevent a director of a company that has failed from forming a new company to carry on a business similar to, or even identical to, that of the failed company-providing he or she has not been disqualified from acting in the management of a limited company or subject to some other form of legal restriction such as personal bankruptcy. Directors involved in a liquidated company cannot usually be involved in the management of a new company which is known by the same, or a substantially similar, name. This has been the legal position for many years and there are no plans to change it.
	Failure does not necessarily imply misconduct on the part of directors. Action can be taken against directors of failed companies to disqualify them from acting in the management of a company if the Secretary of State considers them to be unfit. They can also be prosecuted or ordered by the court to make a personal contribution towards the assets of the failed company in appropriate circumstances.
	There is a robust enforcement regime in place. In the year 2008-09 an average of around five directors were disqualified every working day. In addition, and again on average, one individual was sentenced every working day having been convicted of offences following prosecutions brought by my Department as a result of referrals from the Insolvency Service.

Departmental Contracts

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many contractual disputes with third party suppliers his Department lost as a result of unenforceable penalty clauses in  (a) 2005-06,  (b) 2006-07,  (c) 2007-08 and  (d) 2009-10 to date; what (i) the cumulative monetary value of the contracts involved in each year and (ii) the amount awarded to the supplier in each case was; and how much the Department was entitled to but did not claim under such disputes in each year.

Pat McFadden: The Department's contract terms do not as standard include a liquidated damages or penalty condition. A liquidated damages clause would only be used on a case by case basis where warranted by the particular characteristics of the procurement requirement.
	Further information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Contracts

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what expenditure his Department incurred as a result of contractual disputes with third party suppliers in  (a) 2005-06,  (b) 2006-07,  (c) 2007-08  (d) 2008-09 and  (e) 2009-10 to date; and how much was awarded to each supplier in each such case.

Pat McFadden: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Manpower

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many  (a) full-time and  (b) part-time staff his Department employs.

Pat McFadden: There are  (a) 3,241 full-time and  (b) part-time staff employed by BIS as at 30 September.

Departmental Training

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what training sessions were attended by  (a) Ministers and  (b) special advisers in his Department at public expense in each of the last three years.

Pat McFadden: Training is provided to Ministers and special advisers if required in order to carry out their respective duties effectively under the Ministerial Code and the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. Details of training provided to Government Ministers by the National School of Government are publicly available and can be found at:
	http://www.nationalschool.gov.uk/policy/Ministerial Programme/Table.asp

Departmental Training

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many sessions of media training were organised for Ministers in his Department in each of the last three years.

Pat McFadden: Training is provided to Ministers if required on a range of issues including handling the media, in order to carry out their duties effectively under the Ministerial Code.

Departmental Waste

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what volume of waste his Department and its predecessors generated in each of the last three years; what percentage of this was  (a) paper,  (b) plastic,  (c) glass,  (d) metal,  (e) electrical goods and batteries and  (f) food waste; and what percentage of that waste was (i) disposed of securely, (ii) disposed of in landfill and (iii) recycled.

Pat McFadden: This Department is required to report performance data on volumes of waste generated and its recycling rates annually as part of the Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) reporting process. All waste is disposed of securely in line with our waste duty of care and BIS does not send any materials in the categories listed to landfill. All waste is either recycled or sent to an energy from waste facility.
	The latest assessment of government's performance against this target was published by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) on 18 December 2009, and is available on the OGC website:
	http://www.ogc.gov.uk/sustainability_programme_progress.asp
	Information on reporting years prior to 2008/09 was collated and published by the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) can be found on the SDC website:
	http://www.sd-commission.org.uk

English Language

John Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many English language schools provide language training to a standard sufficient for students to meet language criteria in visa applications.

Kevin Brennan: In 2008/09 (provisional), there were 468 providers (including colleges, local authorities and other organisations) in England with Learning and Skills Council (LSC) funded learners on English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses at Entry Level (1,2 and 3), Level 1 or Level 2.
	The speaking and listening component of ESOL qualifications at Entry Levels 1, 2 or 3 can be acceptable evidence for the purposes of indefinite leave to remain or citizenship.
	The legal requirement for visa applications is to provide evidence of the achievement of a qualification through one of the approved ESOL awarding organisations who must ensure that all colleges and centres offering ESOL qualifications are delivering the full course. Ofqual is the interim independent regulator for qualifications in England and will become the permanent regulator from 1 April 2010). Their duty is to ensure that all qualifications, including those for ESOL, are of an appropriate standard; and to take action with awarding bodies if they are not.
	The UK Border Agency works closely with Ofqual to ensure that the appropriate standards are maintained. The UK Border Agency maintains a list of organisations licensed to sponsor migrants under the points based system and copies will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Higher Education: Children in Care

Don Touhig: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if his Department will take steps to encourage children in local authority care to apply for admission to university.

Iain Wright: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government are committed to widening participation of young people in care in higher education. To this end we have placed a requirement on local authorities to pay a £2,000 bursary to all care leavers who pursue a recognised course of higher education. This entitlement has been publicised through the National Care Advisory Service, which provides advice and support for children and young people aged 13-25 in and from care, and the 2008/09 Aim Higher Tutor's Resource Materials for young people in years 12 and 13 produced by the then Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.
	All local authorities have a duty under the Children Act 1989 to promote the educational achievement of the children and young people they look after. As part of this duty, statutory guidance sets out the importance of creating a culture of high aspirations among children in care, which includes setting out in their personal education plans the support needed to achieve long-term goals such as the pursuit of higher education.
	In addition, the Children and Young Persons Act 2008 extends the entitlement to a personal adviser for care leavers from 21 to 25 where they remain in or return to education.

Lord Mandelson

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many times the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has visited  (a) Dorneywood,  (b) Chevening and  (c) Chequers since his appointment.

Pat McFadden: My noble Friend the Secretary of State has visited Chequers four times since his appointment. He has not visited Dorneywood or Chevening in that time.

Lord Mandelson

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on what occasions the Secretary of State has met Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in an official capacity since becoming Secretary of State.

Pat McFadden: None.

Parents' Learning Allowance

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when he expects the  (a) eligibility of Susan Coombe a constituent of the hon. Member for Torbay ref. 50247451102, for parent learning allowance to be confirmed and  (b) first payment under that allowance to be made to that constituent.

David Lammy: I will write to the hon. Member on this matter.

TREASURY

Banks: Pay

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether UK banks in which the Government have a stake will pay bonuses this year.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Government's shareholdings in financial institutions are managed at arm's length and on a commercial basis by UK Financial Investments Limited (UKFI).
	The bonus pools for Government investee banks have not yet been determined for 2009.

Departmental Internet

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which websites his Department's staff are prevented from accessing from departmental networked computers.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Filtering software is used within the Department to block access to certain inappropriate categories of website . In addition, and consistent with central government security guidance, measures are in place to block access to websites that contain potentially harmful software content, or malware. It is departmental policy not to publish precise details of the measures used, or what they block, as this could provide useful information for individuals who might seek to attack our IT systems.

Economic Situation

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the productivity of the UK in relation to other G7 countries since 1991.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: HM Treasury and BIS are jointly responsible for Public Service Agreement 1 (PSA 1) to raise the productivity of the UK economy. One of the objectives of PSA 1 is to narrow the output per worker productivity gap between the UK and comparator nations (the USA, Germany and France).
	To assess progress against narrowing the productivity gap, HM Treasury use ONS data from their biannual International Comparisons of Productivity(1) statistical release. Results are presented for the UK relative to the US, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, Italy and the G7 in aggregate. Since 1991, the start of the ONS data series, the UK has experienced faster average productivity growth than all other G7 countries(2).
	(1) http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=9671
	(2) http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_economy/ICP_HeadlineTables.xls

Excise Duties: Fuel Oil

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what advice has been issued to farmers on the use of rebated fuel in tractors and other agricultural machines engaged in snow-clearing operations on public roads.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Public notice 75-Fuel for road vehicles, which is available on the HMRC website at:
	http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=truepageLabel= pageExcise_ShowContentpropertyType=documentid= HMCE_CL_000164
	and in print from its helpline, explains the circumstances under which certain 'excepted vehicles', including tractors, other agricultural machines and snow clearing vehicles are entitled to use rebated fuel.

Government Departments: Aviation

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which company won the contract for the Government Air Programme.

Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Gentlemen to the answer I gave him on 11 November 2009,  Official Report, column 499W.

Industrial Health and Safety

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the health and safety advice issued to each new starter upon joining his Department.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department provides induction training to each new starter.
	Copies of the main documents relating to Health and Safety induction training for new starters will be placed in the Library.

Job Creation

Mark Harper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to paragraph 8 on page 33 of his Department's White Paper on Building Britain's Recovery, if he will publish the evidential basis for the estimate that up to half a million jobs have been protected by the Bank of England and the Government during the recession.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) on 14 December 2009,  Official Report, column 846W.

Non-domestic Rates: Fire Services

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many fire stations  (a) were on the 1997 and  (b) are on the 2010 Rating List.

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many fire stations there were on the Valuation Office Agency's Rating List with special category code 101 in  (a) England and  (b) each local authority area in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2010.

Ian Pearson: The number of fire stations in the 1995 Local Rating Lists, which cover Specialist Category Codes 101 and 964, as at 1 April 1997 totalled 1,464.
	The number of fire stations in the Draft 2010 Rating List as at 2 November 2009 totalled 1,470.
	Information on each local authority area is given in the following table:
	
		
			  Fire stations 
			  Billing authority  1995 Rating List as at 1 April 1997 (SCAT 964)  2010 Rating List as at 2 November 2009 (SCAT 101) 
			 Adur 2 2 
			 Allerdale 8 8 
			 Alnwick 3 3 
			 Amber Valley 6 6 
			 Arun 5 5 
			 Ashfield 2 2 
			 Ashford 7 6 
			 Aylesbury Vale 7 6 
			 Babergh 5 5 
			 Barking and Dagenham 0 2 
			 Barnet 4 4 
			 Barnsley 5 4 
			 Barrow-in-Furness 4 3 
			 Basildon 3 3 
			 Basingstoke and Deane 5 5 
			 Bassetlaw 5 5 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 5 5 
			 Bedford 3 3 
			 Berwick-upon-Tweed 5 5 
			 Bexley 3 3 
			 Birmingham 17 16 
			 Blaby 1 1 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 2 2 
			 Blackpool 3 3 
			 Blyth Valley 2 2 
			 Bolsover 3 3 
			 Bolton 4 4 
			 Boston 3 3 
			 Bournemouth 3 3 
			 Bracknell Forest 2 2 
			 Bradford 10 11 
			 Braintree 6 6 
			 Breckland 6 6 
			 Brent 3 3 
			 Brentwood 3 2 
			 Bridgnorth 3 3 
			 Brighton and Hove 3 3 
			 Bristol 6 6 
			 Broadland 4 4 
			 Bromley 4 4 
			 Bromsgrove 1 1 
			 Broxbourne 2 2 
			 Broxstowe 3 4 
			 Burnley 2 2 
			 Bury 3 3 
			 Calderdale 7 7 
			 Cambridge 1 1 
			 Camden 4 4 
			 Cannock Chase 0 2 
			 Canterbury 4 4 
			 Caradon 5 6 
			 Carlisle 3 3 
			 Carrick 3 3 
			 Castle Morpeth 2 2 
			 Castle Point 2 2 
			 Charnwood 3 3 
			 Chelmsford 3 3 
			 Cheltenham 2 1 
			 Cherwell 5 5 
			 Cheshire West and Chester 7 7 
			 Chesterfield 2 2 
			 Chester-le-Street 1 1 
			 Chichester 6 6 
			 Chiltern 3 3 
			 Chorley 1 2 
			 Christchurch 1 1 
			 City of London 0 1 
			 Colchester 5 4 
			 Congleton 4 4 
			 Copeland 6 6 
			 Corby 2 1 
			 Cotswold 7 7 
			 Coventry 4 4 
			 Craven 3 3 
			 Crawley 2 2 
			 Crewe and Nantwich 3 3 
			 Croydon 5 5 
			 Dacorum 6 5 
			 Darlington 1 1 
			 Dartford 2 2 
			 Daventry 5 5 
			 Derby 3 3 
			 Derbyshire Dales 6 6 
			 Derwentside 3 1 
			 Doncaster 7 7 
			 Dover 8 8 
			 Dudley 5 5 
			 Durham 1 1 
			 Ealing 3 4 
			 Easington 3 3 
			 East Cambridgeshire 5 5 
			 East Devon 6 8 
			 East Dorset 4 4 
			 East Hampshire 6 6 
			 East Hertfordshire 6 6 
			 East Lindsey 11 11 
			 East Northamptonshire 5 5 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 14 13 
			 East Staffordshire 5 5 
			 Eastbourne 1 1 
			 Eastleigh 5 4 
			 Eden 7 7 
			 Elmbridge 3 3 
			 Enfield 3 3 
			 Epping Forest 4 4 
			 Epsom and Ewell 1 1 
			 Erewash 2 3 
			 Exeter 2 3 
			 Fareham 3 2 
			 Fenland 5 5 
			 Forest Heath 3 3 
			 Forest of Dean 4 4 
			 Fylde 3 3 
			 Gateshead 4 4 
			 Gedling 2 2 
			 Gloucester 1 1 
			 Gosport 1 1 
			 Gravesham 1 1 
			 Great Yarmouth 3 3 
			 Greenwich 7 6 
			 Guildford 2 2 
			 Hackney 4 4 
			 Halton 2 2 
			 Hambleton 5 6 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 2 2 
			 Harborough 4 4 
			 Haringey 2 2 
			 Harlow 2 2 
			 Harrogate 6 6 
			 Harrow 2 2 
			 Hart 4 4 
			 Hartlepool 2 2 
			 Hastings 2 2 
			 Havant 4 4 
			 Havering 1 3 
			 Herefordshire 12 13 
			 Hertsmere 4 4 
			 High Peak 5 5 
			 Hillingdon 3 3 
			 Hinckley and Bosworth 3 2 
			 Horsham 6 6 
			 Hounslow 3 3 
			 Huntingdonshire 7 7 
			 Hyndburn 3 4 
			 Ipswich 2 2 
			 Isle of Wight 11 11 
			 Isles of Scilly 1 2 
			 Islington 3 3 
			 Kennet 6 6 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 4 4 
			 Kerrier 5 5 
			 Kettering 4 4 
			 Kings Lynn and West Norfolk 10 11 
			 Kingston upon Hull 7 6 
			 Kingston upon Thames 2 2 
			 Kirklees 11 11 
			 Knowsley 3 3 
			 Lambeth 4 5 
			 Lancaster 6 6 
			 Leeds 14 13 
			 Leicester 3 3 
			 Lewes 4 4 
			 Lewisham 4 5 
			 Lichfield 2 2 
			 Lincoln 1 2 
			 Liverpool 11 10 
			 Luton 2 2 
			 Macclesfield 5 5 
			 Maidstone 5 5 
			 Maldon 4 4 
			 Malvern Hills 2 2 
			 Manchester 8 8 
			 Mansfield 2 2 
			 Medway 9 9 
			 Melton 1 1 
			 Mendip 5 5 
			 Merton 3 3 
			 Mid Bedfordshire 6 6 
			 Mid Devon 4 4 
			 Mid Suffolk 6 5 
			 Mid Sussex 6 6 
			 Middlesbrough 2 3 
			 Milton Keynes 6 5 
			 Mole Valley 2 2 
			 New Forest 11 11 
			 Newark and Sherwood 6 6 
			 Newcastle-under-Lyme 2 3 
			 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 6 5 
			 Newham 4 4 
			 North Cornwall 6 6 
			 North Devon 10 10 
			 North Dorset 4 4 
			 North East Derbyshire 2 2 
			 North East Lincolnshire 5 5 
			 North Hertfordshire 3 3 
			 North Kesteven 6 6 
			 North Lincolnshire 8 9 
			 North Norfolk 8 8 
			 North Shropshire 7 7 
			 North Somerset 9 9 
			 North Tyneside 2 2 
			 North Warwickshire 3 3 
			 North West Leicestershire 3 3 
			 North Wiltshire 6 6 
			 Northampton 3 3 
			 Norwich 2 4 
			 Nottingham 3 3 
			 Nuneaton and Bedworth 2 2 
			 Oadby and Wigston 1 1 
			 Oldham 3 3 
			 Oswestry 1 1 
			 Oxford 2 2 
			 Pendle 4 4 
			 Penwith 3 3 
			 Peterborough 4 4 
			 Plymouth 5 5 
			 Poole 2 2 
			 Portsmouth 3 3 
			 Preston 2 2 
			 Purbeck 3 3 
			 Reading 4 4 
			 Redbridge 3 3 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 7 8 
			 Redditch 1 1 
			 Reigate and Banstead 1 1 
			 Restormel 7 7 
			 Ribble Valley 2 2 
			 Richmond upon Thames 2 2 
			 Richmondshire 5 5 
			 Rochdale 3 3 
			 Rochford 3 3 
			 Rossendale 3 3 
			 Rother 5 5 
			 Rotherham 6 4 
			 Rugby 2 2 
			 Runnymede 2 2 
			 Rushcliffe 3 3 
			 Rushmoor 1 1 
			 Rutland 4 2 
			 Ryedale 5 5 
			 Salford 6 5 
			 Salisbury 5 5 
			 Sandwell 6 7 
			 Scarborough 8 8 
			 Sedgefield 3 3 
			 Sedgemoor 4 4 
			 Sefton 4 4 
			 Selby 2 2 
			 Sevenoaks 6 6 
			 Sheffield 10 10 
			 Shepway 5 5 
			 Shrewsbury and Atcham 2 2 
			 Slough 2 2 
			 Solihull 2 2 
			 South Bedfordshire 3 3 
			 South Buckinghamshire 3 2 
			 South Cambridgeshire 5 5 
			 South Derbyshire 2 2 
			 South Gloucestershire 4 4 
			 South Hams 7 7 
			 South Holland 5 5 
			 South Kesteven 6 6 
			 South Lakeland 12 12 
			 South Norfolk 7 7 
			 South Northamptonshire 2 2 
			 South Oxfordshire 7 7 
			 South Ribble 3 3 
			 South Shropshire 7 7 
			 South Somerset 8 8 
			 South Staffordshire 5 5 
			 South Tyneside 2 2 
			 Southampton 3 3 
			 Southend-on-Sea 2 2 
			 Southwark 4 4 
			 Spelthome 2 2 
			 St. Albans 4 5 
			 St. Edmundsbury 6 5 
			 St. Helens 4 3 
			 Stafford 4 4 
			 Staffordshire Moorlands 6 5 
			 Stevenage 1 2 
			 Stockport 5 5 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 4 4 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 3 3 
			 Stratford-on-Avon 10 9 
			 Stroud 5 5 
			 Suffolk Coastal 8 7 
			 Sunderland 6 6 
			 Surrey Heath 2 2 
			 Sutton 2 2 
			 Swale 6 6 
			 Swindon 3 3 
			 Tameside 4 4 
			 Tamworth 1 1 
			 Tandridge 3 3 
			 Taunton Deane 3 3 
			 Teesdale 2 2 
			 Teignbridge 4 7 
			 Telford and Wrekin 4 4 
			 Tendring 6 6 
			 Test Valley 3 3 
			 Tewkesbury 2 2 
			 Thanet 4 4 
			 Three Rivers 1 1 
			 Thurrock 3 3 
			 Tonbridge and Mailing 3 3 
			 Torbay 3 3 
			 Torridge 5 5 
			 Tower Hamlets 6 6 
			 Trafford 3 3 
			 Tunbridge Wells 7 7 
			 Tynedale 6 6 
			 Uttlesford 6 6 
			 Vale of White Horse 3 3 
			 Wakefield 9 9 
			 Walsall 4 4 
			 Waltham Forest 2 4 
			 Wandsworth 3 3 
			 Wansbeck 1 1 
			 Warrington 3 3 
			 Warwick 3 3 
			 Watford 2 2 
			 Waveney 8 7 
			 Waverley 5 5 
			 Wealden 11 10 
			 Wear Valley 3 3 
			 Wellingborough 2 2 
			 Welwyn Hatfield 3 3 
			 West Berkshire 6 5 
			 West Devon 8 8 
			 West Dorset 6 8 
			 West Lancashire 3 3 
			 West Lindsey 5 6 
			 West Oxfordshire 7 7 
			 West Somerset 4 4 
			 West Wiltshire 5 5 
			 Westminster 4 4 
			 Weymouth and Portland 2 2 
			 Wigan 4 4 
			 Winchester 7 6 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 4 4 
			 Wirral 6 6 
			 Woking 1 1 
			 Wokingham 3 3 
			 Wolverhampton 4 4 
			 Worcester 1 1 
			 Worthing 1 1 
			 Wychavon 5 5 
			 Wycombe 5 4 
			 Wyre 3 3 
			 Wyre Forest 3 3 
			 York 2 3 
			  Note:  Numbers may not sum to totals because of rounding.

Public Sector: Procurement

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the monetary value was of  (a) central and  (b) local government contracts required to be advertised on Tenders Electronic Daily, the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union in the last 12 months.

Ian Pearson: The current thresholds are:
	 Supply and Service Contracts
	Local Authorities - £156,442
	Central Government - £101,323
	 Works Contracts
	All authorities - £3,927,260
	Works contracts cover capital construction projects, buildings, roads and their repair. Supplies contracts will be for the purchase or lease of food, goods and other equipment. Services cover the balance and include maintenance services, transport, insurance, consultancy, waste disposal and others. The higher threshold for works contracts reflects the higher cost of construction contracts.

Revenue and Customs: Peterhead

Alex Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much in  (a) direct and  (b) indirect taxes was (i) collected and (ii) administered by the HM Revenue and Customs office in Peterhead in each year since 2006.

Stephen Timms: The information requested is available only at disproportionate cost due to the work required to extract it from HM Revenue and Customs' systems.

Revenue and Customs: Peterhead

Alex Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff were based at the office of HM Revenue and Customs and its predecessor organisations in Peterhead in each year since 2006.

Stephen Timms: The number of staff based in HM Revenue and Customs office in Peterhead for each year since 2006 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  As at 1  April:  Headcount  FTE( 1) 
			 2006 23 20.20 
			 2007 20 17.59 
			 2008 18 15.40 
			 2009 10 8.40 
			 (1) FTE relates to full time equivalent.

Revenue and Customs: Peterhead

Alex Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer from which HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) offices the Shares Fishermen's Scheme will be administered following the closure of Keith House, Peterhead; and what steps will be taken by HMRC to retain the expertise of its staff in respect of the fishing industry following the closure.

Stephen Timms: The Share Fisherman Scheme will be administered from the HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC's) office in Aberdeen where other work specific to the fishing industry is already carried out. HMRC's expectation is that staff in Keith House, Peterhead currently administering the scheme will relocate with their work if they are able to do so, enabling them to use their existing skills and expertise. Individual options will be explored for those who cannot relocate and the work will be continued from Aberdeen by staff with fishing industry experience.

Revenue and Customs: Peterhead

Alex Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consultation HM Revenue and Customs undertook with the fishing industry over the closure of Keith House, Peterhead.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) local business managers in Peterhead invited the Scottish Fishermen's Federation to comment on the proposed closure of Keith House as part of its Regional Review Programme.

Revenue and Customs: Scotland

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average length of service is of staff employed by HM Revenue and Customs and its predecessor organisations at each of its locations in Scotland.

Stephen Timms: The information requested is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Town  Office name  Average length of service (years) 
			 Aberdeen Ruby House 24.5 
			 Ayr Russell House 25.8 
			 Bathgate Pyramids Business Park 4.0 
			 Buckie Moray House 22.4 
			 Coatbridge 2 Muiryhall Street 25.2 
			 Cumbernauld St. Mungos Road 14.8 
			 Dumbarton 15 Meadowbank Street 25.1 
			 Dumfries Government Buildings Dumfries 25.1 
			 Dundee Caledonian House Dundee 23.4 
			  Sidlaw House 4.9 
			 Dunfermline Merchiston House 28.2 
			 Dunoon Auchencraig 18.7 
			 East Kilbride Hawbank Stores 19.6 
			  Plaza Tower 8.4 
			  Queensway House 18.0 
			 Edinburgh 44 York Place 23.9 
			  Argyle House 14.6 
			  Clarendon House Edinburgh 24.4 
			  Elgin House 22.3 
			  Erskine House 14.0 
			  Grayfield House 17.1 
			  Meldrum House 23.1 
			  Saughton House 21.0 
			 Elgin Phoenix House Elgin 25.9 
			 Falkirk Grahame House 20.7 
			 Galashiels New Reiver House 27.7 
			 Glasgow Blythswood House 21.7 
			  Cotton House 21.4 
			  Portcullis House Glasgow 13.9 
			 Glenrothes Saltire House 17.8 
			 Grangemouth Custom House Grangemouth 25.7 
			 Greenock 99 Dalrymple Street 28.6 
			  Custom House Greenock 21.8 
			 Hamilton 1 Barrack Street 26.1 
			 Hawick Crown Building Hawick 21.2 
			 Inverness Longman House 32.9 
			  River House 24.2 
			 Irvine Marress House 26.6 
			 Kirkcaldy 26 Victoria Road 27.0 
			 Lerwick Charlotte House 41.3 
			 Livingston Almondvale Shopping Centre 20.6 
			  Barbara Ritchie House 4.9 
			  Pentland House 20.0 
			 Motherwell 43 Civic Square 26.3 
			 Oban Mathieson House 44.4 
			 Paisley Falcon Osprey and Vigilant House 22.5 
			  Gilmour House 27.8 
			  Terminal Building Glasgow Airport 33.7 
			 Perth 1 to 3 Water Vennel 22.2 
			 Peterhead Keith House 19.5 
			 Rothesay 9 King Street 26.7 
			 Stirling 8 Spittal Street 26.0 
			 Ullapool 24 West Argyll Street 31.6 
			 Wick Government Buildings and Custom House Wick 24.3

Revenue and Customs: Scotland

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with which estate partners HM Revenue and Customs holds contracts relating to accommodation and facilities management for its offices in Scotland.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) main estate partner is Mapeley with whom it holds the Strategic Transfer of the Estate to the Private Sector (STEPS) contract relating to accommodation and facilities management for offices in Scotland and throughout the UK. HMRC also has estate contracts with London and Regional Properties for two offices in Scotland, one in Edinburgh and one in Glasgow.

Stamp Duty Land Tax: Carbon Emissions

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many homes have received zero carbon stamp duty relief in each month since the relief was introduced.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The stamp duty land tax relief (SDLT) for zero carbon homes was introduced to help kick-start the market for new highly efficient technologies in homes, both for the fabric of the building and in the use of micro-generation, and sets a gold standard for green homes. Few currently exist, but the purpose of the relief is to act as signal. We have always made it clear that the SDLT relief for zero carbon homes would evolve and we expect to see more of these homes built in the future.
	24 homes have qualified for the zero carbon homes relief since October 2007. Due to the small numbers involved, HMRC tax-payer confidentiality obligations do not allow the requested breakdown of relief granted by month.

Valuation Office: Personal Records

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what databases containing personal data the Valuation Office Agency  (a) maintains and  (b) has access to.

Ian Pearson: The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) maintains a number of databases to support its work, some of which is personal data. In addition, the VOA has access to databases owned by third parties, which are either publicly available or which the VOA has a statutory duty to access in order to carry out its work. These databases may contain personal data.